Forever Darkness
by violent werewolf-Dark Prince
Summary: He has Sasuke for a friend, and even two lovely kunoichi to help him through problems. So what happened in the land of waves, and why isn't it Zabuza's fault? Leads up to the battle with Pain. SAKURA BASHING, SASUKE BASHING in later chapters, InoNaruHina.
1. Promise of a Shinobi

-1

_This is my rebuttal from the failed Dark Destiny: Apocalypse project. I hope you all like this one, so please R&R. _

Chapter 1: A shinobi's promise

"Ichi Nomake."

"Here."

"Tomuya Dentaishi."

"Here."

"Naruto Uzamaki."

"..."

"Naruto Uzamaki?"

The door burst open and in comes a thirteen year old Naruto Uzamaki, wearing his orange outfit, jacket open and a sucker in his mouth.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here."

"Naruto, where have you been?"

"Please Iruka-sensei, I'm really not in the mood now."

Before he could say anything else, Iruka had him by the ear.

"You're not in the mood? And what's with the wanna be jock look?"

"ow, ow, ow, ow."

"You stay after class. Now go to your seat."

The class by now was laughing, save for several distinct people.

One, Sasuke Uchiha sat staring intently at the blonde with his hands folded beneath his chin. Two, Shikamaru Naga stared out the window at clouds slowly moving in the sky. Shino Aburame sat, apparently sleep. He took his seat, next to the Raven haired Uchiha.

"Where were you?" The boy asked without even looking at the blonde.

"Someone...broke into my apartment while I was sleeping. I had to give a report of the perp."

"Who was it?"

"Still don't know-"

He was cut short as a piece of chalk was skillfully shot into the center of his forehead.

"NO TALKING IN CLASS!! Sasuke Uchiha, you stay after as well!"

Students laugh again.

Naruto rubbed his forehead and growled.

"I'm glad this is the last day we have in this academy."

"For me yeah, for you, not so sure."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sasuke smirked but said nothing more. It was obvious that Sasuke knew something Naruto didn't.

A little later the class was dismissed and everyone left except for Naruto, Sasuke, and Shikamaru.

"Sasuke-kun, that baka is sorry he got you in trouble. If you want me to thrash him I can." A young Sakura Haruno stated as she began to walk away.

Sasuke just ignored her and waited for Iruka to address them.

"Shikamaru, you can go now but I want a parent teacher conference tomorrow."

"Aw man, what a drag..."

He slumps away with his hands in his pocket. Iruka turns to the last two.

"How many times do I have to tell you two to stop talking in class? I'd be surprised if either one of you actually pass the genin test tomorrow."

"GENIN TEST?" Naruto yelled out. He turned to Sasuke who had his eyes closed but held a smirk on his face.

"You knew?"

He just nodded. "I thought you would have figured out by now."

Naruto cursed Sasuke and shrunk into nothingness. "I am so screwed."

"Well despite everything, you've both shown very impressive skills and are actually tied for ranking number one in class. If you could just stay focused, you could both be chunin before you know it."

"There's one problem Iruka-sensei. He has the brain of a fruit fly-" Sasuke said.

"And he has the attention span of a dung beetle." Naruto finished.

Iruka sighed and dismissed the two. He smiled as they walked away. He knew what Naruto was going threw, and he knew what Sasuke had went threw. The fact that they found friends in each other was a miracle of itself, but at how close their bond was, it was all unbelievable. He looked down at the roster of students to see that Naruto and Sasuke were really ranked number one, and chuckled at who he saw was number two.

"Shikamaru Naga? Wow, the laziest students are my best students. What a world."

Naruto and Sasuke walked out towards the main part of the village.

"You could have at least hinted it or something."

"Come on. You heard what Iruka-sensei said. Me and you are number one in class so we should have no problem with tomorrows test."

He mumbled at Sasuke's calm words. That didn't help the fact that he knew nothing about a genin test.

"What do you think they're gonna have us do?" Naruto asked, still mad.

Sasuke just shrugged. "We'll find out when the time comes. See ya later."

He watched as Sasuke turned off and walked towards the abandoned Uchiha complex. He looked away, feeling sorry for his raven haired comrade. He sighed and began walking home.

Having been deep in thoughts, he didn't see the completely visible leg sticking out in front of him. He tripped and fell flat on his face.

"Ow…hey…"

He looked up but no one seemed to notice. However, he knew they had seen what happened, they just didn't care. Some people were still looking and laughing at him. He stood and began to dust the dirt off of him until someone came and knocked him down from behind. This time he scraped an elbow. He turned over, looking around again. People were now visibly laughing. He stood up and began to run.

Not long after, he was on the ground for a third time. Someone had thrown a rather large rock and had hit him right in the stomach. He clutched his gut and curled into a ball as laughs echoed over him.

"Look at the demon!"

"What a wuss! It was just a rock!"

"Cursed monster."

He held back tears at the names. Demon and monster. They always called him that and he never understood why. They all treated him like crap. The only one's who didn't were the select few friends he had at the academy, Iruka, and the third hokage himself. He stood again and moved just in time as another rock flew at him. He was running again. He had to run. It was either run or be beaten. He as drawing closer to his apartment. The place that was supposed to be his safe haven. But there was a huge problem.

He slowed to an unsteady walk, looking up at his apartment, mouth wide open. The building, no, just one room, was burning, sending clouds of black smoke bellowing into the orange sky overhead. The flames danced, at the song of the many people who stood around smiling and laughing. A tear rolled down Naruto's cheek. Not at the fact that all his possessions were now gone, but because of the fact that a life had been taking in the manner. The third hokage had graciously given Naruto a companion. A small puppy, only two weeks ago. He had taken care of the puppy to the best of his ability, with the help of Sasuke and Kiba, who had a puppy of his own.

He dropped to his knees, the warmth of the flames dehydrating him, even from the distance. His tears were dripping onto the ground in front of him. He dug his nails into the ground so hard that his fingers began to bleed. No one even noticed him, they all were drawn to the flames. They didn't notice when his hair began to flutter slightly, or when the marks on his cheek began to darken. His eyes fluctuated between sapphire, violet, red, violet, and sapphire again. Then it all stopped when someone stepped next to him.

"Water Wall jutsu!" Was all Naruto heard before the heat began to disappear from the air.

He looked up at the person who had come to extinguish the flames. He had silver hair and from Naruto's position, one eye was covered by the leafs headband.

"Don't worry, I got him out." The man spoke, under what appeared to be a mask.

He was confused at the man's words until he saw next to the man the puppy he had been taking care of. It was hurt and lying on it's side, but Naruto could see that it was still breathing.

Naruto looked up to where the flames had been. Instead, a steady wall of water now engulfed the apartment. He had just noticed the cheers stop and the many glares aimed at the man standing over him, but more at himself. He shrunk a little, the stares of those around finally settling into him like hundreds of kunai.

The wall of water began to shrink until it was gone, and now only small lines of smoke rose into the air. The man looked down on Naruto with his one visible eye. He just stared, looking into Naruto's tear filled eyes. He blinked and looked away. The crowd in front of the apartment began to disperse. Seconds later, Iruka shows up in a whirl of leaves.

"Naruto, what happened, are you okay?"

"He's fine."

Iruka noticed the person standing next to Naruto and gave him thanks.

"Thank you Kakashi, we're really grateful for this. This means a lot-"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going to report this to the hokage. You should really take that dog to the hospital." The man was gone in seconds.

Iruka sighed and picked Naruto and the puppy up.

'Why would someone go this far?' He thought as he leaped away to the hospital.

"Thank you Iruka-sensei." Naruto whispered, tears still on his face.

"No. I'm sorry Naruto."

"It's not your fault. Besides, they only do it because they hate me. No big deal."

'No big deal?'

Iruka thought very little of it, but in honesty, it bugged him that Naruto would dismiss the situation like that. What was worse, was that Naruto didn't dismiss the situation since it never arose. All he cared about was the puppy.

The sun hung low in the sky, only visible as a half ball of light on top of rooftops. It wouldn't be long before the moon took it's place opposite the sky. Naruto and Iruka sat at a ramen stand, that was called Ichiraku's. He looked down into his bowl at the brown broth and lean noodles. All he thought of was the puppy. Iruka saw and stopped eating himself.

"Naruto, the puppy is gonna be okay. It just has to rest a few days is all."

"Hiro."

"Hm?"

"His name is Hiro."

Iruka saw tears forming in the blondes eyes again.

"Well Naruto, I know you're worried about Hiro, but he's in good hands right now. You don't want him to die do you? He has to be treated by professionals to get well. Isn't that what you want?"

"…"

"Don't worry. In two days, we'll go get the little guy alright?"

"Promise?"

"Promise, believe it."

His smile faded when he saw the blank stare on Naruto's face.

"What's wrong?"

"Iruka-sensei, that believe it thing was so corny."

"Corny? You wait, I'll have you using it all the time, believe it."

Naruto covered his ears with a face full of false fear.

"NOOO!! Then everyone will hate me for using such a corny catch phrase!"

Iruka laughs at the blonde as he shakes his head left and right. The owner came from the back and saw the two.

"Still not done Iruka?"

"No. Will you be closing up shop soon Teuchi?"

"No, no, take as long as you need. You too Naruto."

Naruto didn't hear him as he continued shaking his head from left to right, refusing to hear that catch phrase again.

"You know, we really should be going. Naruto has a big test to take tomorrow."

"He's taking the genin test?"

"That's right."

" Perfect. So is Ayame. Hopefully he could service the village and clear his name…" Teuchi says before turning around.

Without admitting it, Iruka wishes the same thing. Naruto finally uncovers his ears as he sees Iruka standing.

"Time to go already?"

"Yeah. You need to get some sleep before the test tomorrow."

"Oh yeah, the test…"

He stands to follow Iruka. One that wallowed in innocence was engulfed in the pity of sin. It wasn't enough, Iruka knew. There had to be something much more he could do for Naruto besides letting him stay with him for a few days. The bitterness that Naruto hid was surfacing on Iruka, feeling hatred towards the ones who had done horrible things to Naruto. He sighed as they reached his house. Naruto was looking down with his hands in his pockets while Iruka unlocked the door.

"Iruka-sensei…"

"Yes Naruto?"

"Do you think I'm a demon?"

"No…not at all! You're not a demon at all Naruto. Believe-"

"Okay, I get it."

Iruka smiled weakly. He stepped in and closed the door. Naruto walked over to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator door, and grabbed some instant ramen. He knew where everything was since it wasn't the first time he had to stay with Iruka. From time to time, people had set stink bombs in his house or unleashed hoards of mice into the house. He was used to it so everything around the house seemed natural.

"Naruto…why didn't you eat at the stand?"

"I wasn't hungry."

"So I didn't have to waste my money?"

"Not really."

Iruka smacked Naruto in the back of the head with a fan.

"You little brat you should have said something!"

Naruto was squatting holding the back of his head.

"OW! Iruka-senseeeeiiii!" He whined.

"Stop whining! Eat, study, and then get to bed."

Naruto took the instant ramen and grumbled. He took his seat on the couch in the living room and crossed his legs. He flicked on the TV and started to eat.

Iruka sighed in exasperation. He flopped onto the recliner next to Naruto and watched TV as well. About twenty minutes later, they were both wide eyed and drooling. (Yes too much TV can do that to you.) Then the show went to a commercial. Iruka blinked and then looked at Naruto who was still drooling.

"Naruto? Naruto?"

He snapped his fingers. He continued to stare forward blankly. Then Iruka yelled at the top of his lungs.

"NARUTO!"

The blonde flew across the room and slammed into the wall.

"Iruka-sensei, why are you torturing me today?" He said as he flopped onto the floor.

"It's time to study."

"Uh…study what?"

"For…damn it, I left the scrolls at school."

He sighed, remembering someone telling him about the fire and then rushing to get Naruto. He had forgotten to grab his scrolls and the school was locked now.

"Come on Naruto, we need to ask the hokage to let us into the school."

"I…I don't think we should…" Naruto said looking nervously at the door.

"Why not-"

Iruka stopped. Of course Naruto didn't want to go. It was night, and that was when the villagers showed their true colors. Naruto had been hospitalized several times, all with doctors notes saying "incidents" that happened after 7:00 p.m.

"Naruto, I'll be right by your side, so nothing will happen to you."

"Believe it?"

"Yeah…believe it."

Iruka opens the door again. Naruto slowly and reluctantly follows close behind.

"Come on, this'll be faster."

Iruka leapt onto one of the buildings and kept going. Naruto followed behind but was much slower. They were making great progress, not many people were out anyway. By the time they made it to the Hokage tower stairs, only five minutes had passed.

"See, nothing happened at all."

"I guess…" Naruto said covering the kunai rip on the back of his pants.

They walked the rest of the way up the hill. Iruka spoke to the guards and was sent up.

"Alright Naruto, be patient. The hokage is a very busy man."

They entered his office to find him face first in paper work, snoring loudly.

"Sue looks busy to me." Naruto called.

Iruka's brow twitched. "LORD HOKAGE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" He screamed.

The third woke up instantly and began whacking Iruka in the back of the head with a fan.

"Don't you (whack) ever wake (whack) a sleeping (whack) Hokage up! (Whack, Whack, Whack.)"

A few minutes later he returned to his chair and took a serious demeanor.

"Now then, what do you want Iruka, I'm very busy."

"ARE NOT!" He called holding the pulsing lump on his head.

The third noticed Naruto and frowned.

"Naruto, I am truly sorry for what happened earlier today. I assure you those who are found responsible for this will pay dearly. I'm also funding for you a newly refurbished room."

"It doesn't matter sir. Hiro wasn't hurt."

"Your puppy?" The third looked questioningly at Naruto. Then he changed the subject.

"Iruka, what have you come for?"

"Um…Lord Hokage-sama, in the disruption of today's earlier events, I forgot to retrieve-"

"Iruka, Iruka. No formal talk, just come out with it."

Iruka sighed. "I left the test materials for tomorrow's genin test in the school building."

"I see. Fine, come along Iruka."

"Naruto, you stay here until we get back alright?"

"You don't have to tell me twice."

The third and Iruka leave the office. Naruto sighs as the room becomes silent. He stands on spot for a little before turning and looking at papers on the hokage's desk. He sat down in the hokage's chair and flipped threw more papers. Before he could find anything interesting, a knock came on the door. Naruot jumped out the chair and stumbled sideways. The doot opened.

"Um, sorry to disturb you-"

The person entered and saw Naruto on the ground.

"Little Naruto. What's up kid?"

"Uh…Mizuki-sensei."

"What're you doing in here?"

"I…I'm waiting for Iruka-sensei and Hokage-sama to return.

"Oh, I see." He thought to himself for a little bit.

"Hey Naurto, guess what."

"What?"

"You want to know a sure in way to pass the genin test tomorrow?"

"Of course! How?"

Mizuki looked back out the door to the hokage's room. He pulled his head back in and faced Naruto.

"There's a scroll at the shrine threw the western gates that holds techniques that are chunin level. If you could get that scroll, you would definitely become genin for sure."

"Alright! Thanks Mizuki-sensei!"

Naruto darted from the building, forgetting all about the night and the villagers.

He darted towards the western exit, bumping into people and knocking others down with out even glancing back. Then, just feet away from the western exit, Naruto slams head to head with another blonde.

"Ow…hey!" The other calls.

Naruto reels from the blow but sees the person in front of him reaching out towards him. He flinches as the hand touches his head.

"Are you okay?" The person ask. Naruto now realizes the person is a girl.

"I'm…fine. You?"

"I'm okay. My mom says I have a hard head." She says smiling slightly.

"By the way, I'm Ino. Ino Yamanaka. You're Naruto right?"

"Uhuh. We have class together."

"That's right. You're always hanging with Sasuke."

"That's me." He stood and helped her up.

"Where are you going in such a rush?" She asked picking up the flowers that Naruto just noticed.

"I'm…going to get a scroll."

"Isn't the scroll shop closed?"

"It's a special scroll."

"Oh, okay. Well, I'll see you tomorrow okay? I have to get home and study also."

"See ya."

Before the girl walked away, she handed him a flower.

"What's this for?"

"We're friends right? That's a friendship flower."

"Thanks." The girl blushed and walked away.

'Friends? She doesn't think…I'm a demon?'

Naruto smiled and continued on to the shrine.

Outside the village, Naruto began leaping from tree to tree, towards the shrine.

'Is that it?' He thought as he landed in front of a shrine of a golden eight armed man holding up a scroll wrapped in a green and gold rope.

Without a second thought he ran up to it and took it. Before he could take another step the shrine began to glow. The statue stood up and looked down on Naruto.

"Oh…crap."

The statue rose an arm and swung it down at Naruto. He was fast enough to dodge the arm, but didn't see the second, third, or fourth arm coming. They slammed into Naruto and sent him sliding over the ground. He jumped up to see the statue walking slowly towards him. He jumped back and threw kunai, but they all bounced off the metal beast.

Naruto was now panicking. He took out his only smoke grenade and burst it in front of him. The statue stopped. When the smoke cleared, Naruto was gone. He was in a tree, panting heavily. For some reason, he couldn't get more than two hundred feet away from the statue. He thought it was a curse, but remembered Iruka teaching about chakra barriers. He had to defeat the statue in order to leave.

'I know!'

Naruto removed the scroll from his back and opened it. He read the first jutsu.

'Shadow Clone Jutsu? It says Jonin rank! I thought he said it was for chunin. Ah well, looks simple enough.'

He began to form hand signs, and when he felt his chakra build up, he stopped.

'Okay, that's easy. What's next?'

He looked at the scroll once more. The next one read Kekei Genkai: Chakra Eye AKA Deltaigon. Note: This jutsu uses a substantial amount of chakra and puts the users vision in extreme strenuous exercise. Focus all chakra into the pupil of the eye and then focus on spinning it.

He knew why it was hard. Focusing all chakra in his body into his two eyes would not only be enough to blind him, but leave him exposed to attacks that can only be stopped by chakra. Not only that, but while using the kekei genkai, he wouldn't be able to use any other jutsus at all.

'If I only use it for a short period of time, I should be fine.'

Before he could look down to the third jutsu, the statue had delivered a powerful punch to the tree he was in. It shook and cracked at the base. He grabbed the scroll and leaped from the tree. He rolled the scroll while he was in the air.

"Alright, you overgrown ornament, let's get this over with."

He landed on the ground and rushed at the statue right away. He began doing hand signs.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Two Naruto's appeared next to the real one on both sides.

As the statue swung two of it's fist at one Naruto, the second had used its distraction to jump into the air. The third slid under the statue and kicked it in the back. The one in the air slammed its heel on top of the statues head. The real Naruto stood back seeing that the attacks had no effect. The statue spun around, hitting both clones and making them vanish in a puff of smoke.

As soon as the clones were gone, Naruto understood what they did. The statue was hallow, but the force that kept it from breaking was chakra.

'Only one more thing to do…'

"Deltaigon!"

Naruto instantly felt himself losing power in his arms and legs. He had to increase his strength to keep from falling over. His vision, however, become much clearer. Then as he focused on the statue, he could see blue lines flowing all throughout the beast. It looked like a picture that Iruka had shown Naruto, except with eight arms instead of two. It also looked like the statue wasn't moving at all. He noticed that the center of the beast, where the chakra was formed was dim. It's arms and legs held the most chakra. Abruptly, his vision returned to normal.

He staggered and vomited, his eyes seeming to be burning. He regained his stature as he heard the statue coming at him again. He jumped back while rubbing his eyes and thinking of what to do. Then it hit him.

"Shadow Clone jutsu!"

Both Naruto's ran towards the statue. Then the clone grabbed Naruto's arm and slung him forward. The move was so fast that the statue didn't have time to block. Naruto slammed his foot right into the statues center, releasing an unintentional burst of chakra as he did. At first, nothing happened. Seconds later, the statue began to crack where Naruto had made contact. The cracks spread and then the statue exploded.

He flopped to the ground panting. His eyes still burned slightly.

'So that's…a kekei genkai. I wonder if anyone else knows about that technique.'

He sat for a little longer, unaware of the approaching person.

"Good work Naruto. I didn't get to see the fight but I know you were just amazing."

Naruto turned and looked up at the person speaking to him.

"Mizuki-sensei, I found the scroll. Why didn't you tell me that statue would attack?"

"It was for training purposes. Now, give me the scroll Naruto."

"Huh? But-"

"GIVE IT NOW!"

Naruto was startled by Mizuki's outburst. He didn't move, unable to comprehend Mizuki's harsh yell.

"NO NARUTO!" Another voice rang out. He turned to his left to see Iruka landing in the clearing.

"Iruka, stay out of this."

"Mizuki, what are you doing, having Naruto get the forbidden scroll?"

"Forbidden? He told me it was a chunin scroll!"

"Chunin? No, Naruto that scroll contains information that if in the wrong hands could put this entire village in grave danger. But why Mizuki?"

"Oh shut up Iruka, you're too kind hearted for your own good. Or are you? You've been lying to the brat since he was born."

Naruto turned to Iruka.

"Lying to me? About what?"

"Naruto…I-"

"Go on. Tell him. Tell him about the how the fourth hokage sealed the nine-tailed demon inside of him."

Naruto's eyes dilated for a moment. He was wondering why when he used the Deltaigon, the bottom of his eye seemed to flicker with red chakra.

"The nine tails…is in me?"

"That's right kid. Why did you think everyone hated you? Because you are the vessel of the monster that destroyed this village and killed the greatest ninja the world had seen. Well, under lord Oroch-"

"STOP IT NOW MIZUKI! You've already gone too far!"

"Enough!" He pulled a large shuriken from behind his back.

"Give me the scroll and die!" He shouted throwing the shuriken at Naruto.

Naruto was still shocked, and the shuriken was hurtling right at him.

"NARUTO!" Iruka yelled.

The clearing grew silent. Naruto stared wide eyed up at the sky. Something was partially blocking his view.

"Iruka…sensei…"

Iruka was half way over Naruto, the shuriken sticking out of his back.

"Why…"

"Naruto…everything he's said is true. But don't begrudge the fourth. He was doing what was needed to protect the village, just like I'm doing what is needed to protect you. Not everyone hates you Naruto, and although Mizuki has spoken the truth, scum like him only make us good guys look bad." He said chuckling.

"Iruka…sensei."

Then Iruka rolled to the ground. Mizuki chuckled from up in the tree.

"Well, one down, one to go. No one can protect you now."

Naruto was standing on his feet. His face was tilted down so Mizuki couldn't see his face.

"No. No one can protect me now. But I don't need protection to beat scum like you. From this day on, I swear, as a shinobi-"

He looked strait at Mizuki with tears on his face and rage in his eyes.

"I will never let anyone save me from my own battles! A shinobi's promise! Believe it!"

"Yeah right, all talk kid!"

Mizuki threw the last giant shuriken at Naruto. Naruto jumped right up towards the shuriken while doing hand signs.

"Shadow clone jutsu!"

Two Naruto's appeared again. One was in front of him, the other above him. The first one tried to stop the shuriken, and succeeded as it slammed into his mid-section. It disappeared in a puff of smoke. Mizuki was startled by the action.

The last Naruto let the real one grab his leg and slung him towards Mizuki. Naruto slammed a fist into Mizuki's face, sending him flying into another tree, and before he could hit the ground, the last Naruto clone had delivered a kick to his back sending him into the air.

"This is it! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Five Narutos appeared in the air above Mizuki. All at once, they slammed their legs down on Mizuki, sending him crashing back down to the earth.

Now only one Naruto stood, right over Mizuki.

"Scum like you deserve to die." Naruto said, drawing a kunai. He rose it and before he could sling his arm down, Iruka caught it.

"No, Naruto." Was all he said.

Naruto glared at his mentor, but lowered his arm.

"Being a ninja, you will have to kill Naruto, but don't do it unnecessarily, that only leads to trouble."

"Alright Iruka-sensei."

Iruka smiled at Naruto.

'Hm. How much you've grown, and only in one short night. I see a bright future for you Naruto Uzamaki. Maybe even a future as Konoha's Hokage.'

_Eh, it was much longer than I intended. Sorry. Also, let me say that no pairings in this story are permanent, for now. So any of you getting ideas and guessing how the story is going to turn out, I assure you, you're wrong. Lol._


	2. Igniting the flames

-1_I have half of this story thought out. Yeah I know, not good enough. But, if you have questions PM me. I can probably answer 1 out of 3 of your questions. (Joking. 2 of 3.)_

Chapter 2: Igniting the flames

'Who would've thought…'

Naruto turns over in bed.

'The nine tailed fox…is in me?'

"_That's right kid. Why did you think everyone hated you? Because you are the vessel of the monster that destroyed this village and killed the greatest ninja the world had seen."_

He sat up and looked out the window. The sun was just rising, making a frame out of the window. The portrait made Naruto feel calm, even knowing about the monster that occupied him. He stood out of bed and walked into the main part of Iruka's house. He glanced down at the many scrolls that he had been studying the night before. Iruka had told him he didn't have to, but he insisted.

'I shouldn't have made a careless mistake like that. I'll never try to take the easy way out of anything ever again.'

He sat down at the table after fixing some instant ramen. Iruka walked in minutes later.

"Naruto, you're up early. What's wrong?"

"About yesterday…why didn't you tell me?"

Iruka frowned and sat down across from Naruto.

"Naruto…its under decree that you never find out about the demon. It was issued by the fourth himself, before he died. He did it to protect you. In truth, he thought that you would be revered as a hero. The one who holds the nine tailed beast at bay."

"Hell of a good that did."

"Hey. I know you're upset, but you have to understand, we didn't know what would happen if we told you."

"I know now don't I? What difference has it made?"

Iruka could think of nothing. A difference? Not really. But the fact that they had been lying to Naruto seemed to effect him a lot worst. Iruka could only stare at his pupil, feeling sympathy and regret. He stood and sighed.

"Iruka-sensei, don't worry about it. I have more important things to worry about anyway."

Naruto stood and left the house. Iruka just stared at the door. He had a feeling that it wasn't the end of their conversation.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The third stood at the window to his office, looking over the new day and aspiring gleams of konoha. The soothing jingle of wind chimes outside the window adds to his internal mental bliss, and he closes his eyes, feeling the calming eastern winds blowing over him. Even the intrusion from behind seems to not disturb him, as he removes the pipe from his mouth and smiles gently.

"Kakashi, what have you come here for?"

The masked nin sat carelessly in the window on the other side of the office.

"Lord Hokage-sama, we've been able to apprehend the ones who have set fire to the Uzamaki residence."

"Fine, have you brought them?"

"Yes sir. But before I bring them, they say they were under orders from someone else."

"Do you know who this someone is?"

"No sir."

The third finally turned his gaze from the window and faced Kakashi. He gave Kakashi a look that made him sweat.

"Are you sure you don't know? Have you tried everything you could to find out?"

Kakashi remained silent.

"I know how you feel about Naruto, Kakashi, and I respect you for doing this much for him. But as a leaf ninja, it is your duty to uphold the peace as well. Finding this criminal is your mission at this moment."

"But sir, the genin teams are going to be chosen today. I have to be present to receive my team roster."

"Hmm…you are correct. Alright, I'll assign this to someone else. Send in those you have apprehended."

"Yes sir."

Kakashi turned to leave.

"And Kakashi. Demon or not, he is still human, and he is still a child."

Kakashi didn't turn around. He stood, as if absorbing what the hokage had just said. Then he continued on, leaving the room.

The hokage waited just a little before the criminals were sent into his office. This time was different however. The hokage had lost his respect because of a certain person he didn't expect to see in the room.

"Ishi Haruno."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Being part of a beautiful scene has its advantages, if you actually pay attention. However, the blonde shinobi could careless about the beautiful day as he made his way through Konoha. He walked with his hands in his pockets and looking down at the ground. Nothing was on his mind however. It was hard to think when you knew that thousands of people were staring at you, but not seeing you. They didn't see a thirteen year old kid that was all alone. They saw a demon fox, capable of destroying villages with the wave of a tail. All this time he had been so carefree, ignoring what people did or thought about him. He thought that he was doing something that made all these people hate him. He stopped when he heard two women talking across the road.

"Hey, look at the little monster. How pitiful."

"Ugh, why doesn't the hokage just do us all a favor and get rid of him already. All he's doing is taking up space."

"The hokage doesn't want to get his hands dirty."

Naruto growled as tears began to form in his eyes. He couldn't help but care anymore. It wasn't his fault but no one cared. He didn't ask to hold a monster. If someone would of asked him the answer would have been hell no. But no one asked. He wasn't even old enough to remember. They had cursed him, and then lied about it. He resisted the urge to draw a kunai and began to run. He didn't know where he was going and he didn't care. He just wanted to clear his mind.

Where he ended up was not a coincidence. It was where he was going in the first place. He walked towards the holding pin of the animal shelter and looked around at the many animals running around. He spotted his little brown and black puppy, a baby shepherd retriever. It was sleeping amidst all the playing. He smiled and wanted to grab him, but he couldn't just yet. He would let it rest and come back for it tomorrow. He knew it was perfectly fine, and it made him forget all about what had happened the night before.

"So he's okay?"

Naruto turned on spot, startled. Iruka walked over to Naruto and leaned on the fence. Neither said anything. They just stood side by side, looking at the animals.

"He's strong, ya know?" Iruka said, breaking the silence.

Naruto just continued watching the animals play. Iruka looked at Hiro.

"That little guy didn't do anything to anybody, yet he was hurt. But he's not giving up. He's resting so he can come out and play just like the rest of those animals. But the difference is he'll have more strength than the rest."

"So? He could be playing right now, just like the rest of the animals."

"Yeah, but then he wouldn't get better. When he's healed, then he'll play, and he'll be well rested, so he could play for as long as he wants."

"What if he doesn't want to play? What if he wants something else?"

Iruka frowned, but smiled when he caught Naruto's glance.

"See, he's strong because he could care less about the others. He knows what he has to do. He doesn't even care about the ones who hurt him, so he doesn't have a need for the something else. No need for revenge. All he wants is to be able to play again, and he's going to use this to make himself stronger. You know, it's funny. He reminds me of someone."

"Who?"

"You."

Somewhere, deep inside the orange clad ninja, two flames ignited. A dark flame, bellowing with the heat of hatred and iniquity. Across from this flame, another stood, as white as snow. It swayed with the coolness of redemption and hope. At that moment, the white flame burned brighter than ever, making the dark flame barely visible.

"Thank you Iruka-sensei. I needed to hear that."

"Good. Now you have time to focus on the genin test."

Naruto's face flushed of its color. He turned to Iruka with the stare of a zombie.

"I completely forgot."

"Don't worry, we have five minutes to get to school, and it's about two hundred feet from here."

Naruto looked towards the left to see the school.

"Oh come on! That wasn't there before!"

"You should pay more attention."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched. "This is a genjutsu isn't it?"

"No, now come on."

He smiles and begins to follow Iruka. Before they get to the school, he glances back at the animal shelter.

'He's strong…and so am I.'

Inside classroom…

"Ichi Nomake?"

"Here."

"Tomuya Dentaishi?"

"Here."

"Naruto Uzamaki?"

"Here."

Everyone in the room grows silent. Then they begin murmuring. Naruto catches on to what some are saying.

"Holy crap, is it the end of the world?"

"I don't know, but he's never on time!"

He just smirks and closes his eyes.

"What are you so happy about?"

The raven hair ninja asks, having the same carefree look.

"It's nothing. I'm just going to pick up Hiro tomorrow."

"Oh. You don't seem worried about this test, what's up with that?"

"You don't seem worried either."

The conversation was interrupted as the door burst open and a cluster of pink and purple could be seen struggling at the door way.

"There they go again." Naruto heard Shikamaru call with a sigh.

In the door, Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka tried to force their way in, cheek to cheek.

"I want to sit next to Sasuke-kun!"

"I don't care!"

"Pig!"

"Forehead!"

Simultaneously, two pieces of chalk hit them both in the forehead. They stopped bickering.

"You're both late. Hurry up and take a seat!"

Iruka calls in annoyance. The two kunoichi silently walk into the class. Sakura, with a little more brisk, trots right over to Sasuke's side. Naruto could tell that he was already annoyed.

"Hey Sasuke-kun!"

The only reply from the raven haired nin was an annoyed grunt.

Ino watched, and when she saw the occupant next to Sasuke, smiled. All the time, Naruto had been waving to her. Just as briskly as Sakura had, Ino made her way to Naruto's side.

"Hey, how'd finding that scroll go?"

"Let's just say I had a hands on experience."

She chuckles, and calls here when Iruka calls her name. Iruka said nothing about their talking, hiding a smirk from watching the two. On the other hand, Sakura was continuously bombarding Sasuke with talks of going on dates and hanging out after class.

"Sasuke-kun, why do you hang out with an idiot like that anyway?"

"Who, you? I try not to hang out with you but you just won't go away."

She ignored it and took it as a joke. "Oh, you're so funny Sasuke-kun."

'What a loser."

Naruto couldn't help but feel jealously toward the Uchiha. Sasuke didn't even like the pink haired kunoichi, yet she went head over heels for the guy. No, she wasn't just tripping for him, she was paining for him. It was such lust, that it could be known as sinful. As far as he could tell, even Ino didn't hold his comrade in such high regards. If anything, the extent may have only been a strong crush, or sense of false affection. It made him wonder, if he would ever be seen in her eyes like Sasuke.

"Naruto, do you still have that flower I gave you yesterday?"

"Yeah, I put it in a vase. Thanks."

"No problem." She said blushing.

Sakura leaned forward to look at the two blondes.

"Does this finally mean you'll give up this futile attempt at getting Sasuke-kun?"

Ino blushes and shoots hateful glares her way.

"He's just a friend. I'll have Sasuke-kun yet!" She called back.

Naruto had ignored the outburst all together, and prepared himself for the back and forth assaults of pig and forehead. Sasuke was now looking at Naruto sneakily.

"So, you and her."

"NO! I just…it's just…"

"No, I get it. You like blondes like yourself."

"Oh come on! You know I've got a crush on Sakura-chan."

"Why, I'll never know."

"What about you? Both of these gals got it hot for you and you won't even consider either one of them."

"Neither one of them has any sense, let alone a good reason for liking me in the first place."

Neither kunoichi heard Sasuke and Naruto's conversation, having already started their pointless name calling, only to be hit in the head with more chalk.

"Settle down, all of you. You all know why you're here. This is your final day in the academy, and the final day you are all just citizens. Today you will be recognized as leaf shinobi, kunoichi. You will be the protectors, the holders of life, in the hidden leaf village. After this last hour, you will no longer be children. You will all be ninja."

He cleared his throat.

"Now. The genin test consist of three short exercises. The first being knowledge, the second being chakra manifestation, and the last being execution. All should be fairly simple, and it is all you need to graduate. However, if you mess up even one time, you fail and will have to spend an entire year in the academy again."

He walked behind his desk and pulled out a small vial with a clear liquid in it.

"Who can tell me what this is?"

Several people in the class rose their hands, but when Iruka saw that Naruto, Sasuke, and Shikamaru remained motionless, continued.

"Anyone?" He said with a little hint of anger.

Naruto knew what he had been doing from the very beginning and slowly rose his hand. When Sakura saw she chuckled.

"Don't even waste your time."

"Naruto, you know?" Iruka called.

"It's silicon mercury, a poison that starts by numbing a persons arms and then spreading until the entire body is numbed. In large doses, such as 10mg's, it can actually either stop a person's brain functions or kill them."

Everyone in the room gasped, but none so more than Sakura herself. Sasuke just smirked, his arms still crossed in front of him.

"How do those words taste?" He said to Sakura letting out a small chuckle.

She stared at Naruto, mouth gaped. She slowly retracted her hand which had still been in the air; she was expecting him to answer incorrectly and wanted to be the first to answer. Oddly enough, even she didn't know the last part about the poison being strong enough to kill in large doses, and this fact added to her personal humiliation.

"Correct Naruto. Now, can you tell me anything else about this poison?"

Naruto glared at Iruka, as if asking why is he torturing him, but the other side of Naruto really wanted to answer. Besides, he spent all night studying, might as well put it to good use.

"Sometimes ninja on the field use the poison to fake a quick death in motion or to lessen the pain in medical procedures that must be done while still on a mission if a skilled medical nin is not present. In situations of interrogation the poison is sometimes used to erase the memory of the victim. However, the main use for silicon mercury is infiltration assassination, since silicon mercury is the only poison that has a copied periodic element number."

"And what is this number Naruto?"

"Silicon mercury can not be traced, identified, or reproduced under any means beside injection. The reason being that silicon mercury has a periodic number of H2O, water."

By now everyone in the class had been looking at Naruto, including Sasuke. Even random teachers that had been walking by stopped and looked in at the blonde. He looked around sheepishly, retreating into himself slightly. The truth was, the only person in the class besides Naruto that knew the answer was Shikamaru Nara.

"And with that, Naruto Uzamaki, you pass the intelligence test."

Now the gazes darted from Naruto to Iruka. Some didn't believe their ears, and somewhere in the back someone began to cry in frustration. Naruto just let out a relieved sigh, feeling the crushing weight of tension lift off of him. The teachers in the doorway all continued on their way, mumbling beneath their breathes.

"Lucky bastard."

"He must have notes hidden somewhere."

"No, he's not smart enough to take notes. He's got to be cheating."

Iruka shut the door, having overheard a few insults. The frown on his face went unnoticed by everyone except Naruto, as he walked back to the front of the class to continue with the test. After half an hour, only 5 percent of the class had failed the intelligence test.

"Alright, now for your second test. I am proud of all of you. Now, I don't wish to let anymore of you go, so don't let me down. This test will be chakra manifestation. In battle, if you can not control your chakra, even to a subtle extent, you will be annihilated. So far I've taught you three ways of chakra manifestation, but you are only required to demonstrate one to pass. We will continue in the order that we started so Naruto Uzamaki, you are first."

Naruto stood and began to walk towards the front of the class. Iruka pulled out a scroll, unraveled it on the floor and did some hand signs. He slammed his palm down onto it, releasing a large puff of smoke. When it cleared, a large scale appeared. One side was empty, but the other side held a large stone block.

"This block weighs exactly 350 lbs. It's one hundred and fifty pounds larger than the block we used when I trained you. In this exercise, you will need to manifest enough chakra to balance the scale. If the block goes to high, it will shatter and you will fail. If you don't manifest enough chakra, you won't be able to move the block at all. The second catch is, you must balance the scale in fifteen seconds or you fail. If you pass this part, then you must keep the scale balanced for exactly twenty seconds. If you complete this, you pass the chakra manifestation test."

Naruto gets into position for the test. He stands on the scale that is lifted up as far as it can go. He looks over his class. Sasuke and Ino seem to be the only two smiling, as Sakura refuses to look at the scene and Shikamaru has fallen asleep.

He sighs and puts his hands together. Iruka starts a timer. Everyone's attention is caught as blue chakra swirls around Naruto, making it the first time that anyone has seen visible chakra coming from anyone under chunin rank. However, it wasn't good, as Naruto felt the scale drop much faster than he intended, so right away he had to slow down his chakra flow. The scale slowly lifts back up. He takes a deep breath again and releases chakra with more concentration. The scale inches down.

"Five seconds left Naruto."

Naruto silently gulps and begins to release just a bit more chakra. When Iruka calls time, Naruto holds his position.

"Twenty seconds left, hold it Naruto."

Naruto is relieved to hear that he has balanced the scale, because the entire time he had his eyes closed. Now he was keeping a steady flow of chakra, and had to do it for twenty seconds. He felt himself sweating, and could hear the swirl of chakra over his outfit. His muscles began to ache, and the effect on his body began to feel like that when he used the Deltaigon.

"3...2...1...good!"

As soon as Iruka calls the end, Naruto lets his chakra stop, making the scale return to its normal stance. However, Naruto's release was so sudden, he was propelled off of the scale from the momentum and slammed lip to lip with Sasuke. Not soon after, the class burst with laughs from males and blushes from every girl. The closest of these girls, being Sakura, began to half faint, half scold the blonde.

"Na…Naru…you BAKA! What the hell…you ki…ki…"

Sasuke had slumped down, hoping no one was looking at them. Ino had turned from the two, having turned as pink as Sakura's hair. Shikamaru continued to sleep and lazily mumbled.

"Hmm…troublesome…homos."

Near the back of the class, a silent Hyuga princess couldn't help but utter her first words said in the class all year.

"Oh my." Was all she could say before her mouth cemented itself shut from embarrassment.

Naruto and Sasuke didn't even look at one another as the crowd continued to laugh.

"I knew there was a reason they hung out all the time!" A boy said.

"Aw man, all the hot guys are homos." A girl stated.

Sasuke slowly turned to Naruto with flames in his eyes.

"You teme, I'll kill you!"

However, the killing intent Sasuke had acquired was dwarfed by the killing intent of Iruka who skillfully shot dozens of pieces of chalk and hit everyone in the forehead simultaneously.

"ALL OF YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!"

The class instantly calmed down, some people cowering under the ferocity of their sensei.

"If any of you want to pass, I'd advise you to pay attention!"

The four sitting side by side said nothing. Sasuke, staring strait forward with wide eyes and arms crossed tightly. Sakura looked like she was in a state of shock and slowly rocked back and forth, hugging herself. Ino twiddled around on her notebook, still pink, not looking at anyone. Naruto was vigorously scrubbing his mouth with a toothbrush.

After the little incident, the test finally continued. Surprisingly, only two people failed the second test. But there was one person who stood out to Naruto. It was the Hyuga princess. He had never paid her much attention, but when she received the third fastest time for balancing the block, he couldn't help but think about her, even if just for a bit.

Iruka concluded the second part of the test.

"This is it. The final test. If you pass this, you will all be officially genin. As you know, this last test is execution. The jutsu that you all will be executing is the clone jutsu, followed by sustaining a transformation jutsu."

Students began to murmur. Ino, having lost slight interest in Naruto and Sasuke's kiss, nudged Naruto.

"No way. How does he expect us to do both at one time?"

"It's not that hard."

"Yeah, coming from someone who transformed into a disfigured hokage and produced a crippled clone."

He brushed off her insult and walked forward, knowing that he was the first anyway. Once up front, Iruka whispered to him.

"I know you can do this Naruto. This should be a piece of cake for you."

Naruto nodded. And just as Iruka said, Naruto made one clone appear next to him, and then almost instantaneously, they both transformed into the third hokage. Iruka was even more impressed when both produced two more, already transformed, third hokage clones. The class actually began to clap.

"Very impressive Naruto. Marvelous. Take your seat."

Ino was the first to say something.

"Wow, how did you get enough chakra to do that?"

"Remember that scroll I told you about?"

"Do you think you could let me borrow it sometime?"

He chuckled but didn't answer. He turned to Sasuke who held a disturbed look on his face and just kept staring forward. Sakura was still in shock.

In the end, six people failed the final part of the test. Iruka stood smiling looking over his class. He was overjoyed with such success, especially coming from Naruto. But he was saddened also, knowing that this was his finally day with the students. He folded his arms and sized them out once again.

"I should have cherished it. Because now, I am no longer looking at ninja trainees. I am looking at certified Konoha genin. You all have made me proud. You've shown me that believing in you wasn't a waste of time. You've shown me that becoming ninja wasn't just pipe dreams for you all. You all have made me happy to be called your sensei. But, that is the past now, and effective immediately, you will all be assigned to different genin teams."

The short lived cheerful air left the room and was replaced with tension. The genin placements, a team of three under a jounin instructor. The time where you are truly notified as a ninja. Iruka wasted no time, starting with the names of genin and their instructors right away.

"Team 7, Jonin Hatake Kakashi. Genin, Sakura Haruno. Naruto Uzamaki."

Naruto slightly cheered, but Sakura groaned loudly.

"And Sasuke Uchiha."

Naruto didn't lose his eagerness, but Sakura had jumped up and squeeled. Ino growled.

"Unfair! How come forehead gets to be on Sasuke-kun's team?"

"Ino, calm down. The teams are made in a balanced way. Strengths and weaknesses are taking into account."

"But all she has is weakness." Ino mumbled. She sat down and pouted.

"Too bad, Ino pig." Sakura called sticking her tongue out at the pony tailed blonde.

The genin who received their rosters were sent to the front of the school. Naruto had happily walked next to Sasuke into the grass in front of the school. However, Sasuke still refused to speak. Naruto's thoughts were all averted towards the man that stood before him.

"Hey, you're that guy who saved Hiro yesterday! I'm glad you're here, because I didn't get a chance to thank you."

Kakashi Hatake, the masked jonin from the day before stood reading a book entitled Ichi Ichi Paradise. He sighed and put the book in his pouch.

"Well then, so this is the team they've stuck me with. I'm Kakashi Hatake. Before we begin, you should all take these."

He handed them papers. At the top it read Genin Test Results.

"Hey, how did these get made? We just got done with the test."

"You were all being monitored by professional testing ninjas. As soon as you completed your test, the results were immediately printed."

Sasuke looked at his. Test 1: 90 Test 2: 95 Test 3: 90.

He grunted and glanced at Naruto.

"Let me see yours." He called in a low monotone that he usually only used when annoyed or pissed.

Naruto showed him. Test 1: 100 Test 2: 95 Test 3: 100.

As soon as he got a glimpse, he pushed the paper away. This was the moment that inside the raven haired Uchiha, resentment and jealously began to build.

Sakura peered over Sasuke's shoulder. She began to groan when she saw that even her grades were lower than Naruto's.

Test 1: 95 Test 2: 80 Test 3: 85.

She turned to Kakashi.

"Excuse me, Kakashi-sensei, there must be some mistake. There's no way he could have scored higher than me, or especially Sasuke-kun."

"I believe your right, but no need crying over it now. So, as of today I'll assign you an easy mission."

The three fold their papers and put them away.

"All you have to do is take your ninja license pictures. Have fun. And tomorrow, we meet at training ground 6 at 5:00 a.m."

"5 in the morning?" Sakura groaned.

"That's right." He said.

He took one more look at his team, studying Naruto the longest before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. When he was gone, Sasuke began to walk away. Naruto was about to follow but Sasuke stopped him.

"Not today Naruto. I want to be alone for a little bit."

"Oh…okay."

Naruto thought the reason was because of his test scores, and would have never guessed the real reason. The young Uchiha had taken his first step in fulfilling his promise by graduating from the academy. Now he had to complete it, alone.

Naruto turned back to Sakura who ignored him and walked away. Not for away from him, Naruto saw two jonin ninja stop her, and then escort her away towards the hokages office.

He hated that he had to be alone again. The pain was lessened with the thought that he actually graduated. He smiled and began to walk back to Iruka's house.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the hokages office, all is silent, save for the shuffling of paper on the cluttered desk. The third sits, half sleep looking over several files on his desk. He glares up for a bit, at the person sitting in the chair in front of him. Then he continues to mover through his papers.

"When the hell are you going to let me out of here!"

"EXCUSE ME! As of right now, I will hold you in this office for however long I want, and if you, a mere criminal make another outburst, I will carry out my own punishment in this very room. You have no right to speak, Ishi Haruno, and shall remain silent until I give order, or when you are spoken too. Do I make myself clear?"

She looks down, trembling.

"DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

"Yes sir." She says, tears beginning to fall.

The third sighs and stands, having lost his focus on the paper work. A knock came at the door.

"Enter."

"Sir, Sakura Haruno."

Sakura enters the room with a bewildered expression, and seeing her crying mother only adds to her confusion.

"Mom…mom what's wrong? Lord Hokage, what is this?"

"Sakura, sit down."

She does as she is told and looks at her mother, who is only looking at the ground.

"Sakura, are you aware of the events that took place yesterday evening?"

"No sir."

"Well, yesterday, several people thought it would be fun to destroy and burn a certain young mans home. Everything, including all of his most valuable possessions and money were destroyed in this event. To add to this, a living animal was in the fire, thank kami, it wasn't hurt however."

"Lord Hokage, what do you mean?"

"The home that was destroyed belonged to Naruto Uzamaki."

"Naruto? I know he's annoying but why would someone go that far? Who would do such a thing?" But once Sakura finished her sentence, she knew almost exactly what had happened.

"Ishi, your mother, was arrested for arson and destruction of property. She was in the group that is thought to have set fire to the young man's apartment."

"Mom…how could you?" Sakura said, standing.

"That demon…he deserves everything that's coming to him!"

"SILENCE YOU WRETCHED EXCUSE FOR A WOMAN!" The hokage yelled.

Sakura herself had been shaking with rage at what her mother had done. She clenched her fist, and for the first time in her life wanted to hit her mother. She hated her. She knew that Naruto wasn't the villages favorite person, but she would never have thought that people would hate him that much. It made no sense, that people held low human values like that.

"Sakura I called you here because of some very bad news. Until your mother has carried out her time, you will not be able to go on any missions with your genin team."

Sakura rounded on the hokage.

"But why? What have I done?"

"I am sorry Sakura, but since you are on Naruto's team, I can not have you around him. It is only for safety reasons for you and him. Once Naruto finds out, I can not be sure he would forgive you, or let what your mother has done go. Any other missions for you will be suspended until then."

"No…I've finally gotten to be on Sasuke-kun's team."

She turned to her mother. "This is all your fault!"

She screamed before running from the hokage's office.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The most joyous time of his life, for now. He just wished Hiro was there so he could enjoy the time with him. He was almost sure that he wouldn't get another chance. Just a little off the school grounds, Naruto hears someone call his name from behind. He turns to see Hinata Hyuga, the Hyuga princess, running towards him.

"Hey how's it going. Hinata right?"

The young girl bends over catching her breath. She nods to answer him.

"Uh…I wanted…to give you this…as a graduation present." She stuttered.

She was holding out a small box. Naruto looked at it peculiarly.

"What is it?" He said eyeing the white eye heiress.

She frowned, slowly taking her hands back.

"Oh…you don't…want it?"

Naruto could tell that he had hurt the girl but he wasn't trying to. He hated how trust was an issue when it came down to new people. He took the present from Hinata and bowed.

"I'm sorry. Thank you so much. I didn't mean to sound ungrateful."

"No…it-it's alright…" The girl stuttered worse now and begin to gnaw at her finger. She had began to sweat.

"Uh…are you alright, you don't look to good? Are you sick?"

Naruto took a step towards her. She began to hold her breath. He placed one hand on her head.

"Wow you're burning up."

And for the first time in her life, Hinata Hyuga fainted.


	3. Tears will not fall

-1_Thank you everyone who has reviewed the story. Just to be clear, pairings are still not thought of yet. No promises people. _

Chapter 3: Tears will not fall

It had been an hour since Naruto had graduated. He had went to Ichiraku's for a celebration, even if he was alone, but found out that Ayame had not passed the test. Teuchi was upset and didn't feel like celebrating, but Ayame sat with Naruto and had a few bowls of ramen.

"You don't seem too mad." Naruto said threw a mouthful of ramen, slurping so hard, the last of the noodles smacked him in the face.

"Well, my dad wanted me to become a ninja, but all I wanted to do was continue working here. If I were to become a ninja, I wouldn't have a lot of time to spend with my dad."

"I get it." He stuffed more ramen into his mouth.

"Ooh anted ooh heep eh vwisness oing."

"Chew and swallow Naruto." She said giggling.

After a little bit, Naruto swallowed the last of the ramen and drunk some water from the cup in front of him. After a satisfied aah, he turned to Ayame.

"You wanted to keep the business going. I don't blame you, with ramen like this, you'd be rich in no time."

She smiled at Naruto. "It's not that I want to be rich, although I can't argue that it won't happen, but I just want to spend as much time with my dad as possible."

Naruto nods. He wishes he could relate with what was said, but he didn't know who his father was. But somewhere, in the back of his mind, he felt like he knew who it was. Like the person had been close the whole time, as if he had seen the person everyday. After a few more bowls of ramen, Ayame closed up shop and Naruto was left alone again. He sighed and began walking once again towards Iruka's house. However, something was on his mind, and he couldn't shake it.

'Wait a minute, that's it!'

He quickly turned around and darted off. He ignored people around him, trying to stay focused on his destination. He rounded a corner and saw the building. A small flower shop with a green shed next to it. He walked forward and entered the store. Before he reached it, the strong fragrances of flowers began enter his nostrils. Once inside, he began to look around. There were dozens of different flowers, different shapes, sizes, and fragrances. He saw one flower that he recognized. Under the pot that the flower was in it read

Pink Lotus: The flower of eternal friendship. Price: 1200 yn.

He winced at the price. A flower cost that much? He winced again when he realized that Ino had gave him an expensive flower for free. She must have really thought of Naruto as a friend. But this reminded Naruto of his reason for being in the shop. He walked over to the small bell that was on the counter and rang it. Then he heard moving behind a door that read Botanical Garden.

"Just a minute." A male voice called out.

Once Naruto heard the voice, he instantly wanted to turn and hightail it out of the shop. However, it was too late. The door had opened and a blonde man came into the shop. Once he saw Naruto he smiled slightly.

"Hey kiddo, what'd you need?"

Naruto swallowed hard before speaking.

"Is…is Ino here?"

The man continued to smile. "No, she's with her teammates celebrating. They're at Suiko restaurant."

"Uh…thanks."

"What's the matter?"

Naruto didn't answer. He turned to walk away. However, the man called out again.

"I'm her father you know." He said.

Naruto bitterly turned around to face the man.

"I could tell." He said looking down.

"The name's Inoichi Yamanaka. Nice to meet you Naruto."

"What do you mean nice to meet me?"

"Just like I said, nice to meet you. My daughter came home yesterday saying that she's finally gotten a chance to talk to you and told me that you were different from what everybody said."

"You believed her?"

"No. I knew. I know what happened when you were born, and I know you know. Me and you never got a chance to meet, so I kind of guessed that you felt that everyone hated you. If I would have met you when you were younger, I hope you wouldn't have felt that way, because I have not held any resentment towards you whatsoever."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

Inoichi smiled and walked around the counter.

"Anyone who can make friends with Ino in one try has got to be something special. I've learned to face it, Ino is one thick headed girl, and it's no secret. If you even vaguely interested her, there must have been something about you that was above normal."

"Yeah, having a 500 hundred foot fox demon inside me doesn't count as above normal."

Inoichi smirks slightly, not being able to comprehend why Naruto would openly make a joke about the kyuubi. He put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"I just wanted to see for myself what makes you special in her eyes, and it's definitely not the demon. Hell, I even know it's not your sense of humor. You want to know what it is?"

"What?"

"Your heart."

"My…heart?"

"Yeah. I've never seen anyone with more heart than you Naruto. You can take the worst of times and mold it into something that shines. I'll be honest. If I had been tormented by the village as long as you had, I wouldn't have lasted. And for someone like you to still smile after all of the bull shit, excuse my language, it shows that you're a survivor."

"Ya know, Iruka-sensei basically told me the same thing."

"That's because he's smart. If a person can see that in you, then they're smart too. It makes me proud to know my daughter isn't that much of a follower."

"What do you mean?"

Inoichi frowned. "You know how Sakura and Ino are always fighting over Sasuke Uchiha right?"

Naruto nods.

"Ino only began to like Sasuke because Sakura did. However, Ino's intentions were to say that she and Sakura had more in common, but Sakura took it the wrong way. Because of this confliction, they broke up as best friends."

"I could have told her that wasn't going to end well."

"I tried, but she wouldn't listen. She thought that she and Sakura were too close to end their friendship over a boy."

"If Ino doesn't really like Sasuke, then why keep fighting over him?"

"Ino is prideful. She doesn't want to lose to Sakura after what she did. But also, somewhere along the line, I think Ino began to develop emotions for the Uchiha as well."

Naruto looked confused.

"I know it's complicated. Listen, I can walk people's minds, and I tell you, the mind of a woman is a very dangerous place."

"I just thought that women were dangerous in general." He said remembering all the scoldings he's got from Sakura.

Inoichi laughed. "You know, I enjoy talking to you Naruto."

"Same here. It's been a pleasure."

"Okay. Have you gotten your ninja license picture taken already?"

Naruto froze on spot. He gulped. "I totally forgot! And I spent the money for it at Ichiraku's! Aah, what am I gonna do? My first mission and I'm going to blow it already!"

"Calm down, Naruto. Here, I'll lend you the money for now. In return I want you to come by tomorrow when you finish with your training. Deal?"

Naruto hastily took the money and agreed. But after a few seconds of holding the money, he held it back out towards Inoichi.

"I'm sorry, I can't accept this Inoichi-san."

"Why not?"

"I made a promise, that I would never let anyone save me from my own problems."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'll think of something."

Inoichi stared at Naruto. Such determination surprised Inoichi, even after all that he said to Naruto. It just added to the thoughts that Inoichi wanted the blonde shinobi around. He could work wonders on Ino, and maybe even make her change completely.

"No. I'm not saving you from anything. That's why I want you to come by tomorrow. You can work for what you owe me, so that should be fair and legitimate right?"

Naruto just looked at the money for a second before nodding. He pocketed the money and bowed to Inoichi.

"Thank you Inoichi-san. I truly appreciate this."

"No problem Naruto." He replied, amazed at how humble Naruto had been the entire time.

"And remember, we're your friends Naruto, whether you realize it or not."

"Okay da-" Naruto caught himself in the middle of his speech.

Inoichi had caught on and was blushing. He scratched the side of his cheek, looking down at flowers that he knew didn't interest him one bit.

"I'm sorry." Naruto said quickly and left.

He stared at the blonde as he made his way down the road and turned out of sight. As he looked at the empty space, a tear formed in his eye.

'Kami, what has this boy done to deserve to go through this? What have I done…to be revered so respectfully by him?'

Naruto cursed himself for almost letting his tongue slip.

'Baka, why don't you just go and tarnish the bond you got with the guy already. What was I thinking? About to call him…BAKA!'

He ran quickly towards the building where the pictures were being taken. The sun had began to set so he only had a few more minutes to get it done.

He frowned at his thoughts. The problem was that he did feel like he had a bond with Inoichi. He didn't even have complete trust in him, but something about him made Naruto feel alright. It was weird, because he had gotten away with calling Iruka dad a few times, but each time Iruka told him not to call him that, and then would remain silent for a long time, as if grieving. Naruto never understood why.

When he reached the building where the pictures were being taken, he had forgotten why he had come. Then he saw a flash on top of the building and remembered. He leaped onto the top of the building and saw Sasuke walking away.

"Hey Sasuke!" He called. His comrade only stopped for a second and then continued on, leaving.

'Hey, why's he giving me the cold shoulder all of a sudden?'

He scratched his head and walked over to the photographer.

"You're lucky you've gotten here on time, I was just about to leave."

"I'm sorry. I had forgotten about the pictures and had spent a little more time celebrating than I intended."

"Don't worry, you're not the first."

Naruto stood in a box the photographer had made with tape. Then he did his most professional smile. The photographer snapped the picture and accepted the money. It had taken less time than Naruto thought, so he quickly jumped from the roof, intending on following Sasuke. However, as soon as he touched the ground, he saw the Uchiha standing with his arms crossed and his back against a building.

"Come on dobe."

Naruto glared at Sasuke, but followed anyway. He wanted to ask a question but Sasuke looked too upset. They leapt from building to building, heading towards where the school was. Naruto was patient, waiting to see what Sasuke was planning.

"Are you mad?" Sasuke asked, catching Naruto off guard.

"No, why?"

"Okay." Was all he said before looking forward again.

The two remained silent until they got to the front of the academy. Naruto saw another person, sitting on the swing he used to sit on, crying. He understood that Sasuke brought him there because of a problem, however, what the problem was, was still a blank for Naruto.

"Sakura-chan what's wrong?"

As soon as he spoke, Sakura's eyes darted at him, then Sasuke and around the area. He knew at once that she was terrified of something. But was it him?

"Sas-sasuke-kun, wh-why would you bring him here?"

"He has a right to know."

"But…"

"You shouldn't have come to me first. I won't hide something like this from him."

Sakura hung her head and Naruto looked on confused.

"Okay, someone tell me what the hell is going on here."

Sasuke looked at Sakura, but when he saw that she made no response, turned to Naruto himself.

"First things first, she's been suspended from ninja duty for sometime."

"What? Why? Sakura-chan, what did you do?"

She just kept her head down, still sniveling.

"_She_ didn't do anything Naruto. Her mother, Ishi Haruno did."

Naruto looked confused for a second. "What'd she do, and why is Sakura-chan being punished for it?"

Sasuke looked at Sakura and then back at Naruto. Sakura had stopped crying and looked as if she had tensed all over.

"Ishi was caught, and identified as one of the people who burned your apartment Naruto."

For a split second, Naruto didn't hear Sasuke. And then the words replayed in his mind, creating a relapse, and plunging him into complete shock. For a few minutes all he could do was stare at Sasuke, his lips slightly parted. Then reality hit him like a train. He blinked and turned to Sakura.

"What!? Your mother was one of the people who burned my apartment?!"

Sakura had now returned to her crying, and was hugging herself. Sasuke had taken a step back, as Naruto's rage seemed to become a living entity.

"Sakura, did you know?" He half screamed at her.

Sasuke rose an eyebrow, seeing as Naruto shaved off the chan after Sakura's name.

For Sakura's part, all she could do was look down and away from the enraged teen.

"Sakura, for the love of kami please tell me you didn't know!" He sounded as if pleading, but in reality he was demanding.

"I-I just found out…today. When I was summoned to the hokage's office."

Naruto's anger faltered for just a bit. He paced around trying to calm himself down. All he wanted to do was strike something. He stopped pacing and flared a hand sign, creating a clone right next to him. Then with tremendous force, he smashed a fist into the clone, sending it flying away from the academy and into the night sky.

"Calm yet?" Sasuke asks seeing the clone turn into smoke in the air.

Naruto turned to him, and the look on Naruto's face showed that his anger had been replaced with sorrow. Sasuke looked away, feeling sorry for him. But it was diminished right away, because Sasuke knew more than anyone else, that Naruto hated being pitied.

Naruto walked slowly over to Sakura, who stared wide eyed at him trembling.

"Sakura…why didn't you come to **me** first? Why were you planning on hiding this from me?"

"I was afraid…"

"Afraid of what? That I would hate you? After all the torturing you've done to me ever since we started in the academy, I still haven't hated you! I doubt that you really cared what I felt about you anyway."

"I was afraid…that you'd hurt me."

"Hurt you! One, I would never hurt you! I've been trying to tell you that for years! Two, how can you be so self-centered? How the hell can you be this stupid?"

He turned from her, fist clenched again.

"I wouldn't have blamed you. Hell, I don't blame you now. It's just, I've finally realized what type of person you are. Did you know that my puppy, Hiro was in that fire? If it wasn't for Kakashi-sensei, he would have been dead."

Sakura had returned to her silence. Naruto turned to her.

"Thanks for putting it in perspective for me Sakura. You don't care about me or Hiro. That's why you didn't come to me first, you were afraid that I would hurt you. If you would have paid attention all these years, you would have known that I would never hurt you, and I wouldn't even have held a grudge against Ishi…well not that long of one anyway."

He looked at her as her face began to soften and the tears dried on her cheeks. He growled lowly.

"You weren't even crying about me were you?"

The look on Sakura's face reflected her answer in shock.

"You were crying because you thought that you wouldn't be close to Sasuke, weren't you?"

"That's…that's not true. I was mad at what she did-"

"Really? Or did you just see the reflection of yourself in her, and began to pity me?"

Sasuke had gotten nervous.

"I…I did. I did feel sorry for you-"

"I DON'T WANT ANY PITY, ESPECIALLY YOURS!"

He screamed. Sakura gasped from the outburst and almost fell from the swing. What scared her most was that she thought she saw his eyes turn red for a second, and his teeth become fangs. He shivered with rage.

"All I wanted was for you to actually just like me, but instead I get your pity. And not only that, false pity, because as soon as tomorrow came, you would have probably continued treating me like the shit on the bottom of your shoe. If you would have just come to me first Sakura…"

He looked away. "I would have never seen the truth. So I thank you."

"Naruto…I'm sorry."

He didn't respond.

"Was the third planning on telling me?" He asked.

"I…don't know."

He snorted. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Then he turned to Sasuke.

"I want to talk to you later, tomorrow actually. I have something I need to do right now."

"What?"

"I just want to speak with the hokage and straiten this mess out."

Sasuke nods. Naruto looks back at Sakura. He couldn't believe anything he had said. He actually didn't feel like he had said it. Like something else was toying with his mind. Why was something different? He knew the way Sakura had treated him in the past wasn't fair, but why now? She obviously didn't give a rats ass about Naruto, his apartment, or Hiro. And if she did, it wasn't much at all. But why would this make Naruto explode? As Naruto leapt towards the hokages office, the flames inside his mind began to change. Now the white flame only burned like a small liter, and the black flame bellowed high.

He landed at the window to the hokage's office. The hokage saw Naruto, and noticing the conflicting look on his face, ordered him to sit.

He moved the papers to the side that were on his desk. Then he took the pipe from his drawer and began to smoke. Naruto just watched, eyes glazed with tears that would not fall. It made him look sleepy, although he really was, but more than was true. The third sighed.

"Naruto…do not for one moment think that I was not going to inform you."

"Then why? Why did I have to come here to get an answer myself? Why didn't you send someone to get me like you did Sakura?"

"I didn't want problems Naruto. While Ishi was here-"

"Wait a minute! You thought if I was here there would be problems? You should know me more than anyone else, grandpa!" Naruto called, eyes beginning to blur with tears that just refused to fall.

The third only looked at the glossy sapphires on Naruto's face. It made him want to cry as well, but he remained subtle.

"Naruto, with the past few events, such as you learning about the kyuubi, and the attempt on your life by a well respected leaf nin, I had to take all the necessary precautions. I am sorry if I have offended you, but you must understand-"

"Offend me? That's all you think? I…I feel like you've betrayed me! How could you keep such things from me!"

"You are human Naruto, and if I would have told you about what Ishi had done-"

"Not just with Ishi! Why wouldn't you tell me about the fox? I don't care about a decree, that decree can burn in hell for all I care! You know me lord hokage-sama! You know I wouldn't hurt anyone in this village unless absolutely necessary. You know me!"

"No, Naruto. I don't. I don't know you at all. You are not the same brat who painted hokage mountain countless times. You are not the failure of the academy. You are not the innocent child who I cared for."

Naruto looked at the third in shock.

"What do you mean?" He said, lip quivering.

"I am well aware of what would have transpired if Iruka wasn't present at the time of the incident last night. I know, Naruto, that you would have the blood of Mizuki on your hands if he would not have stopped you. The Naruto I knew would have never done anything that rash, or vindictive."

Naruto trembled now. His jaw shook, as if trying to hold back a flood of tears.

"I look at you Naruto, and I see a fine shinobi. But I also see a man filled with pain, and anger, and hatred. As I see this man, I feel obligated to protect him, from others and himself. But as I see today, I can no longer do that. As hard as you've tried to keep all of your emotions bottled up, you've failed to forge them. Many of your comrades and teachers may have been fooled, but I am not. I see the rage you hold bubbling inside of you, and now it is overflowing. You can't hide it anymore Naruto, and you will have to learn how to deal with it, without me holding your hand."

Naruto dropped to his knees. He wanted to cry. Wanted to scream, to anything. But he couldn't. It was all in the open now. His false happiness, his perky illusion. It was all shattered. There was no way he could hide it any longer, and was afraid of it. The person who he'd been lying to the most was himself. And the lies just kept coming. The trust that he thought he had was a lie. Those who he thought really cared for him, he thought it was all a lie. He couldn't even hate anyone, especially the third. He understood that the whole reason he was lied to, was because he lied to himself.

"Naruto, if it helps, continue on with your charade. But I warn you, it will never end good, no matter what you do."

Naruto stood, turned and exited the hokages office. The entire time, he hadn't shed one tear.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Hyuga residence is silent. The only sound heard is the pad of light footsteps going throughout the house. The footsteps stop in front of a door, and continues as the door opens. Then the house is plunged into silence once again. Sitting in meditation is the Hyuga head, Hiashi Hyuga. He scrunches his brow, annoyed at the intrusion.

"This better be important." He said, eyes still closed.

"Uh…um, father. I…"

"Speak clearly or leave me be Hinata." He said, finally opening his eyes.

The white eyed heiress just swallowed and took a deep breath.

"Father, I passed the genin test today and have been assigned to squad eight, under Kurenai-sensei."

He stared at his daughter for a few seconds.

"That's it? Hinata, do not disturb me while I am meditating with such mediocre success. If you want to tell me something, come back after you've passed the chunin exam. Now got to bed. Get enough sleep so you won't pass out for nothing, as I've been informed about. And that goes for you too Hinabi!"

The smaller Hyuga had been sitting by the doorway listening in on the conversation, and once her name was called, she immediately replied yes father and scurried away. Hinata had been on the verge of tears, but they didn't show. She didn't refuse to cry, she just couldn't. She turned from her father, feeling destroyed and skulked towards the room she shared with Hianbi.

Hiashi sighed as he couldn't return to his meditations. He stood and walked down a hall towards his own room. Once inside, he locked the door and retrieved a picture from atop his dresser. It was a picture of a woman who looked almost exactly like Hinata, but her hair went all the way down her back. She wore a black shirt that resembled Hinata's but on top she had the jonin vest.

'Forgive me my love. I could never say what you would. Hinata is growing up fine, without my help. I wish I knew a better way to show her I love her. She may have not realized it, but I've already told her that I believe she could pass the chunin exams. I know it is much more harsh than you would have allowed, but I'm not as tender as you. However, I promise to take care of Hinata and Hinabi, and continue to remember you forever. And know, I am just as proud of Hinata as you are.'

He kissed the picture and sat it down.

Once Hinata entered her room, Hinabi ran and hugged her. Hinata was surprised by the action but soon hugged back.

"I'm happy for you nee-chan."

"Thank you Hinabi-kun." She said squeezing her little sister.

"And I think daddy is too. He's just too cranky and old to show it."

Hinata smiled and giggled. "Don't say that. Father is a very stressed man, and has a lot to deal with right now."

"You mean since mommy died." Hinabi said, sorrow filling her.

The same happened to Hinata as well.

"Yes, that is what I mean."

Hinabi hugged her older sister one more time before going to bed as instructed. Hinata did the same and laid in her own bed. For a while she just laid with her eyes closed trying to sleep. Then she heard the door to the room open. She went completely still. She heard footsteps. Then they stopped. After a few seconds they continued again, sounding closer to her. They stopped again. She didn't want to open her eyes. Then, she felt a kiss on her forehead. She almost opened her eyes until she heard someone speaking.

"I am very proud of you tenshi."

Then the person leaves. Hinata's tears finally leave the sanctum of her eyes. She rolls over onto her side to see Hinabi staring right at her, and crying as well. Both girls remain silent before crying themselves to sleep. Crying, believing it was a dream.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto entered Iruka's house. It was extremely late. He was tired and didn't even wake Iruka to tell him that he was home. He simply walked over to the couch, kicked off his shoes and flopped down. He didn't have enough strength to walk to the guest room on the second floor. He could care less anyway.

'I will continue this way. I don't care what the old man said, I'll make it work. No matter what…'

As Naruto began to close his eyes, he could hear a deep chuckling. He had no time to think about it as he soon found himself fast asleep. The two flames inside of Naruto were extinguished. But not permanently, just for the day. And they were extinguished, by the tears that would not fall.

_Once again, thank you for reviewing the story. Now I have inspiration to keep going. (Really because the first two chapters I've done Narilyt has criticized to some extent, so now I'm out to make this the best damn fic it can be! Thanks Narilyt!) And I won't forget about KingKakashi either, whose been reviewing my stories ever since I've been on this site. He's a great inspiration. (Whoa what's wrong with me? I'm actually saying something nice?)_

_Yeah enough of the nice crap, onto the next chapter!_


	4. Scarred Memories

-1_Next chapter finally up. I've been having a hard time thinking lately, so I hope this chapter is good. Thank you for the advice too. I'll try as hard as I can to make necessary changes._

Chapter 4: Scarred Memories

The thump of each and every footstep is heard as the young boy runs through the street. It's so quiet you can hear the drops of his tears as they hit the dirt ground. He is running with his eyes closed, not wanting to see the death that surrounded him. The sky, edged with black buildings, glowed red. The clouds seemed to move at ten times normal speed.

"Brother! Please stop this!"

He trips and falls. But no solid stopped him. He plunged, flipping head over heels, into darkness. In a matter of seconds, he landed on a wooden floor. He struggles to bring himself to his knees. His struggle is interrupted by voices.

"Sasuke…come help us."

His eyes dilate. He slowly turns around and finds himself sitting in his parents room. All the furniture was gone, and a blue light spilled into the room from the window. His parents sat side by side in the middle of the room. Sasuke's brother, Uchiha Itachi, stood right above them.

"Don't let him kill us Sasuke." His mother said while still smiling.

"Yes, stop him Sasuke." His father taunted.

"Or are you too weak to stop him?" They both call.

"NO! Stop it!" The young Uchiha called gripping his head.

The room changed. His parents faces were all over the walls.

"Stop him Sasuke. Don't let him kill us."

"Or are you too weak?"

"Ha-ha-ha, what's wrong Sasuke? Make me proud of you."

"Don't you love your mother Sasuke?"

"Or are you too weak?"

The last voice that spoke was none other than Itachi himself. The faces remained on the walls but none were speaking anymore. Itachi stood over who were supposed to be Sasuke's true parents.

"Foolish little brother. You are pathetic."

The faces on the wall began to repeat the word pathetic.

"Power is what drives us Sasuke. But you have none."

Now the faces chanted none.

"You don't have the strength to kill me. You don't have the hate. And you know what? You never will." He brought his sword down, cutting both of their parents.

Sasuke screamed. "STOP IT!" He closed his eyes, screaming and crying.

"Then do something about it."

He stopped crying when he heard this voice. He looked up and saw young Naruto. Everything around them was white.

"You do something about it, and I'll help."

"Naruto…but…I can't…"

"Yes you can Sasuke. You can do anything. You're an Uchiha."

"And so am I." Itachi's voice rang out once more.

The white filled with black. Sasuke lost sight of Naruto for a few seconds. However, when he focused, he saw Itachi holding Naruto by the neck.

"You can't protect anyone." He said as he plunged the sword into Naruto.

"STOP IT!"

His yell echoed throughout the Uchiha compound. He was sitting up in bed, breathing heavily. He was sweating under the sheets.

'Another nightmare…'

He looked at his shaking hands.

'Damn you Itachi…I will kill you some day.'

'And I will gain power. One way or another.'

He looked at the picture of him and Naruto as kids that sat next to his bed.

'But you just keep getting stronger already.'

Opposite side of the village…

All the nights that he has slept, he's only had nightmares. Nightmares about his childhood to be exact. However, this night was different. Different because he couldn't tell if he was dreaming or not. He was sitting in some type of prison for all he could tell. In front of him bars rose up, so far that he couldn't see the end. There were small seal tags all over the bars, but one in the middle was larger than all the rest. The seal looked like it was made of glass. Fog covered the ground. He didn't know if he was dreaming, because everything around him felt real. He could feel the coolness from the fog, and could feel the amazing chakra signature coming from in the darkness behind the bars. Now he was alert.

'Where the hell am I?' He wondered.

Behind the bars he heard a low growling sound. Then two large, red eyes opened, peering at him. He froze in fear, mouth agape.

"**All these years and now you finally decide to come see me."**

Naruto couldn't help but whimper as he heard the deep voice coming from the darkness. He shivered.

"**Do I frighten you Naruto? Then you must know who I am."**

"You're…the Kyuubi."

The monster chuckled.** "Bingo."**

Naruto tried to calm down, but he couldn't. It was the first time in his life that he had ever feared anyone or anything to such a high magnitude.

"**Relax, kid, I'm not going to eat you. You'd just taste like ramen."**

Naruto gulped and tried to relax. He sat down on the floor before finally getting the courage to speak again.

"How…where…"

"**What? You still scared? Fine, what if I do this."**

Naruto saw red smoke begin to form right behind the bars. Then it began to form into a small red fox. The fox had nine tails flowing behind it. It was small enough to fit through the bars now, but it remained on its side.

"**You feel like talking now?" **A voice came from the fox, although it's lips didn't move. It just kept staring at Naruto with it's glowing red eyes.

"What's going on here? How am I talking to you?"

"**This is the deepest part of your existence. This is where the yondaime has sealed me. No one can enter this place except for you."**

"But I don't want to be here! I don't want you here! Get out of my body!"

"**Believe me, if I could, I would. And then I wouldn't have to listen to all the bullshit you tell people."**

Naruto gasped at the foxes words. Then he growled. "Great, even the all mighty Kyuubi doesn't approve of me lying. What next? Akamaru's gonna yell at me?"

"**Silence. I could care less about your lies. I have called you here because of something I needed to discuss with you."**

"I have nothing to discuss with you!"

"**You have no choice. You're not strong enough to leave this place by yourself, so until I say what needs to be said, you will remain here."**

'Damn fox…everything that's happened so far is your fault anyway.' He thought.

"**Now that you have graduated from the academy, I want to give you a little present."**

He looked up, surprised. But then he looked away again. "I don't want anything from you."

"**Fine, I will keep the memories the fourth sealed away with me from you then."**

Naruto had stood and rushed towards the bars before he realized it.

"What!? He sealed away memories?" Naruto was right in front of the fox, who was looking up at him.

"Wait…why would you give me a present for graduating the academy anyway? Why would you show me memories from the past?"

The fox sighed. **"Whether I like it or not, I've grown fond of you over the past few years. I think because some of his emotions rubbed off on me. Whatever the case may be, I feel obligated to show you this."**

Naruto was engulfed in red smoke. He felt himself spinning as the red faded to black. And then, he could see a light. He didn't know what it was, but it was the only sign of anything else besides darkness. He ran forward. The light seemed far off, and the longer he ran, the more he wanted to cry. Then, with a large effort, he hit the light, and began crying.

'Wait a minute? Why do I sound like…a baby!'

"**Because, Naruto. This is the day you were born."**

His eyes finally adjusted to the light. He was being held. He looked up into the face of a doctor with glasses that reflected the light into his face. No wonder he was crying. Then the doctor handed him to someone else, someone who was laying down. He turned his head to face the person holding him and stopped crying instantly. A woman held him, with emerald eyes and long black hair. Her face was as pure as falling snow, and her smile as warm as fire.

"If only your father were here now." She said.

"What are you going to call him?" A nurse asked.

"Naruto. Naruto-"

However the naming ceremony was interrupted. A loud explosion was heard outside of the building. Then a roar is heard. Naruto looks at the woman holding him, just to see the look of terror on her face. He begins to cry again. He looks toward the door as the state of emergency siren can be heard outside. A doctor and a nurse were panicking and talking.

"What's happening?"

"It's the Kyuubi! It's here and has broken the wall!"

Another loud roar is heard. Without warning, the side of the hospital is blown away. Naruto hears the woman holding him speak again.

"Here! Take him!"

"But what about you!" The nurse said taking Naruto from the woman.

"I can't move, there's nothing we can do. Just protect Naruto!" She called.

As Naruto looked back at the woman, a man with a spiral mask appeared in the room. Just before the nurse turned to leave, Naruto saw the man in the mask plunge a kunai into the woman's chest.

The nurse ran until she was outside, following a doctor. Once outside, Naruto saw it. The giant Kyuubi. He roared and slashed and smashed buildings. Kunai, and various other attacks slammed into the beast, all looking like they had no effect. However, when Naruto looked closer in the Kyuubi's red eyes, he saw sorrow.

Then everything went black again. He appeared back in front of the fox's cell.

"**Naruto…"** The fox said in a hushed tone.

He was still crying. His tears fell, breaking threw the fog and hitting the floor with an echo.

"That…was my mother right?"

"**That is correct."**

He punched the floor. "Who was it?"

"**I am sorry Naruto, but I can not access anymore of that memory at this time. Until then, you will have to remember this one."**

"Damn it!" He screamed punching the ground again.

"Someone killed my mother! Right after…right after…" He couldn't finish. He shook with sorrow and rage, breathing heavily.

"And where was my father at this time?" He called.

"**Trust me Naruto, he was very busy fighting me."**

Naruto took a few minutes to calm down. He wiped his tears on the sleeve of his jacket. Then he looked back at the Kyuubi.

"You. You were in pain. You looked like you were confused."

The fox looked away.

"**I was. One day, I'm enjoying a perfect walk with my Kitsune, the next thing I know I'm summoned in the leaf village. I didn't know what was happening, but when the villagers began to attack me, I had no choice but to attack back."**

"So you had no intentions of destroying the leaf village?"

"**Of course not. The truth is that I had ties with the leaf village. I was friends with a toad king, named Gama-Bunta, who was the leaf villages sacred protector. Don't believe everything people say Naruto. Just because we were different, they hated us. I looked like a vicious creature and was treated as one. However, the death of your mother was not an accident as you have seen."**

Naruto looked away. He didn't want to trust the fox, and didn't know if what he had just shown him was true, but it all seemed to fit. Like he had remembered it his whole life.

"**You can hate me Naruto, and it's only fair, but I will be here only to help you."**

The Kyuubi stopped as he felt a hand on his head.

"I don't hate you. I understand you. They hated you because you were different, just like me. But I guess I can't be selfish that way either. It's not me they hate, not really anyway. They still see you, and hate you. I don't exist. It's only you."

He stopped as he heard the fox purring. He chuckled.

"It's all just a perspective. As far as I'm concerned, you're harmless."

The fox had stopped purring. Then it tried to take a bite out of Naruto's hand.

"**Who you calling harmless?"**

"Hey, that was uncalled for!" He said smiling.

"**That's not funny Naruto! You trying to hurt my pride or something?"**

Naruto could only laugh at the fox. Then he sighed.

"Why did you wait until now to talk to me?"

"**There are many reasons why Naruto. The main reason I guess is because of that seal. As long as that seal remains on there, I have no connection to the human world. However, two days ago, the seal cracked very slightly."**

Naruto looked up and noticed that a small crack was on the upper right hand corner of the seal.

"How'd that happen?"

"**I don't know. I think it happened once Mizuki told you the truth about me. Your anger slipped, and somehow, you began to take chakra from me."**

"I took chakra from you?"

"**Yes. I don't know how or why, but you did."**

"So the weaker that seal gets, the closer you come to getting out of here?"

"**That is correct."**

After a few minutes, Naruto stood.

"I need to get going."

"**Naruto, do not tell anyone of anything we have discussed. I will tell you when the time is right to let someone know."**

"Alright. Just between you and me."

"**Do not get me wrong Naruto. Do not try and release me from this seal, because if I get out, I will take revenge on the leaf village."**

"But I thought you said-"

"**Things have changed Naruto. Just as you have."**

Naruto felt himself being pulled away from the cell. Then, he jolted up strait. He felt water under him. He looked down and saw that the entire couch was wet. He was sweating beyond human possibility. He pushed down on the couch, making a little sweat pour and drip onto the floor. He felt numb, and his arms trembled. He stood and almost fell over. His legs felt like gel.

'Damn it…what the hell just happened?'

He wiped the little sweat that still held onto his head. He stumbled to Iruka's bathroom and undressed. He got in the shower and let it run over him.

'My mother was…murdered. Why would someone do that? Why **my** mother?'

For a second he wanted to say why not Sakura's mother. He washed and dressed. When he exited the shower he found Iruka in the kitchen cooking breakfast.

"Iruka-sensei, what are you doing up? It's 4:30 a.m."

He yawned while scrambling eggs.

"I know you have to meet Kakashi in a little bit, so I decided to fix you something to eat before you go train."

"Oh…thanks."

He sat at the table and put his head down. If what the fox showed him was true, then sooner or later, he would want to find his mothers murderer. And where the hell was his father? Where was he now? He gritted his teeth and growled. Iruka heard him.

"You okay Naruto?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine!" He said, faking a smile.

Iruka just sighed and continued to cook. He finished and placed a plate down in front of Naruto.

"Thanks Iruka-sensei…wait, where's your plate?"

"That's all the breakfast food we have right now. I'll go get some more later."

He looked down into the food. He pushed the plate forward.

"Here, you eat it."

Iruka chuckled. "No Naruto. I cooked it for you."

"But if it's the last of your food then I have no right to eat it."

"Naruto, it's the last of our breakfast food. There's plenty of stuff left in the kitchen."

"Did you say our?"

"Of course. As long as you stay here anything that's mine is yours."

"And yours is mine?"

"Not unless you trust me enough."

Naruto looked at Iruka, feeling more respect for him than ever before.

'There're some people who I don't need to fake happiness with. Iruka-sensei is one of them.'

"Hurry and eat Naruto, or you'll be late."

Naruto quickly ate and then left. He ran towards the exit of the village. He thought about how hectic the day was going to be. Almost at the exit to the village Naruto saw a flash of blue behind a large wall. He stopped running and looked. Another burst of blue was seen and a gentle, almost cute grunt was heard.

'What the hell's that?' He thought and ran towards the fence. He jumped up and stood on it.

He was staring into an extremely large backyard that looked like a training ground itself. The only difference was that there were wooden dummies all over the place with dots covering them. Naruto watched as a girl spun and sent a large burst of chakra arching into the air. Then the girl saw Naruto and squeaked. She flushed red and took a step back, tripping over an exposed branch. Naruto dropped down and went to help her up.

"Hey, you okay Hinata? What's wrong with you?"

She could only tremble and hold her breath. She seemed to be whimpering.

"Huh? Wait…you're not scared of me…are you?" He said taking a step back.

Hinata saw and opened her mouth. Finally, something came out.

"No…" She half yelled.

"Then what's wrong with you? You act like you've seen a ghost or something!"

"I…I'm sorry…Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked confused at the girl. He walked over to her, and her blush spread. She looked down, away from him.

"What're you doing out here this early anyway?"

Hinata faced him, the color on her face slowly fading.

"I just wanted to get a little more practice in…with the basics…you know."

"The basics huh? I've never seen anyone move pure chakra to their will like that. It was like you were making it dance."

"It's… the basic for Hyuga training."

"Hyuga training? What's that?"

"A type of training that only those of our bloodline can undergo. We have to have perfect chakra control and manifestation."

"Looks like you've mastered it."

"No, not really. I'm still training at an academy Hyuga's level. That's why I wake up every day at 3:00 a.m. and practice until I can't raise my arms."

"THREE?! Every day!?"

Hinata's face flooded with pink again.

"Wow! I respect that Hinata! Maybe I should try getting up early and training from now on-"

Then he stopped. "Shit! Training! SorryHinatabutIhavetogobeforeI'mlatefortrainingtalktoyoulaterpromiseokaybye!" He said in one breath while running and jumping over the fence.

She stood staring at the empty space.

"What…just happened?" She said before returning to her training. On the second floor of the building, a curtain closed after someone had watched the entire scene.

He exited the village at top speed and darted down the path to the training ground. Once there, he saw Sasuke sitting with his back to a rock. He skidded to a stop. Almost slamming right into him.

"You're late dobe." He said with a smirk.

"Oh screw you teme." He called sitting next to him.

"I'm late? Where's Kakashi-sensei?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Probably watching us right now, planning a sneak attack."

Naruto looked around. He could see nothing out of the ordinary. He just shook his head and relaxed.

"You wanted to talk to me about something?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh yeah. What's the deal with you giving me the cold shoulder after graduation?"

Sasuke frowned slightly, remembering the nightmare he had. "There was something I needed to take care of by myself. I was coming to see you after I was done."

"Take care of what?"

"Naruto, I would tell you if it were anything but what it is."

"Wait…what?"

Sasuke chuckled. "You'll find out in time dobe…but I wish you wouldn't."

Naruto just sighed at Sasuke's puzzling words. It was one of the first times Sasuke had held a secret from Naruto. He stretched and turned with his back facing Sasuke. Sasuke turned and leaned his back against Naruto's.

"When we go on missions, we'll watch each others backs alright?" Naruto said.

"Even when we're not on missions, dobe. Just because we're genin now doesn't mean anything will change." Sasuke lied, but he wanted to sound true enough to convince himself.

(One hour later…)

Naruto and Sasuke sleep back to back. A small cricket hops towards them. Then it lands on Naruto's leg and bounds up to his face. He slowly opens his eyes and yawns. The cricket hops off and Naruto watches as it disappears into the bushes.

'Wait…that thing was…' "Ick!" He yelled wiping his face.

"Ugh, disgusting bugs!"

"Stop yelling…dobe…" Sasuke called rubbing his eyes.

Naruto scowled at him. He looked towards the sky. It was still dark but the suns light was visible beyond buildings.

"The suns rising? It's been about an hour and he's still not here!"

Just as he spoke, Kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves. They both stood on their feet.

"What the hell? Where were you!" Naruto called.

"Well, I came by earlier but you two were sleeping so peacefully that I didn't want to wake you. So I left."

Sasuke looked startled. "You were here earlier?"

"That's right. And the first thing I'm telling you is this; Never let your guard down, even when you sleep. If I were an enemy, I wouldn't have hesitated to take both of your lives."

Sasuke and Naruto both looked down.

"Now, I assume both of you know why Sakura won't be joining us today, correct?"

They nod.

"We also haven't had enough time to find a third person to feel in her spot for the time being. Real training will be postponed until further notice, however, we still have work to do."

He opened his pouch and pulled out his book.

"Today, I want you two to spar, so I can see what you need to improve on and what you don't. I will observe and tell you to stop when I've found enough information."

"If you're going to be reading, then how are you going to watch us?" Sasuke asked.

"It's called multi tasking. Now you will begin on my mark. And Sasuke, try not to hurt Naruto too badly."

Sasuke ignored the comment, as did Naruto. They walked a few feet apart and then faced one another.

"Ready…begin!" He called, eye never leaving the book.

Sasuke and Naruto rush forward and begin their match. Their blows are constant and even. Neither were actually attacking at full strength, or even half in that matter. They kept throwing weak punches, while laughing when one made a small mistake. Thirty minutes in they both stop, panting and looking at each other. Kakashi closed his book.

"Is there a reason you're both holding back?"

They looked at Kakashi confused.

"Neither one of you have used any ninjutsu, or any effective taijutsu for that matter."

"Sorry Kakashi-sensei. We didn't know you wanted us to go all out."

He sighed. "Listen carefully. No matter if you're just training or if you encounter the enemy for real, never hold back. Strike at your enemy with the intent to kill. What you both did just now can be considered juvenile, and I expected more from you Sasuke. You are genin shinobi now. This is not playtime or fun sparring."

Naruto and Sasuke look at each other. It sounded kind of harsh but that was part of being a ninja.

"Right now, I want you two to spar again. But this time attack like your life depended on it, because if you don't I'll put a kunai into your backs. No ninjutsu, all taijutsu."

"Wait…" Naruto said until Kakashi called begin.

The two hesitate for a bit until they see Kakashi reaching for his kunai. They face each other and attack again.

Sasuke throws a strong right jab at Naruto's gut and makes contact, but gasps as he feels Naruto's hands wrap around his wrist. Naruto raises Sasuke's arm and turns from him. He thrust his hip into Sasuke's abs and flips him over his shoulder. While Sasuke was on the ground, Naruto had rose his foot, intending on getting a stomp on Sasuke's stomach. His foot was blocked and Sasuke pushes him back. He jumps up and spin kicks Naruto. Naruto slides back a few feet but rushes in again. It's a full frontal charge so Sasuke thought he had the advantage. As soon as he was close, Sasuke threw another kick towards Naruto's face. He caught Sasuke's leg and did the same slam that he had done before. This time, he didn't let go of Sasuke's leg.

Sasuke saw that he needed to increase his speed, so he pushed himself onto his hands and spun his body quickly, hitting Naruto with his free leg. He had enough momentum to spin again and hit Naruto with the leg that was just released. After the last hit he landed on his feet and began to deliver blow after blow to Naruto. Kakashi had actually glance over his book a few times to see what was happening. Then, Naruto finally stopped Sasuke's assaults by head butting him. In one swift motion Naruto swept Sasuke, and as he was falling, kicked him in the stomach, sending him bounding over the ground. When Sasuke stood, Kakashi put the book away completely.

"Don't get cocky dobe, if we could use jutsu, you wouldn't stand a chance."

"Yeah right." Naruto said smirking.

"But if your opponent is very effective with taijutsu, you might not get a chance to use your ninjutsu." Kakashi said.

"Then I'll just have to be faster."

"Sometimes that won't work Sasuke. In this case, Naruto is faster than you. And as for what I've seen, he uses Judo as a main style, which is why he countered your moves so effectively. However, he needs more speed so he can counter more attacks. But when Judo starts to fail, he uses reckless, yet powerful attacks to take you down quickly and get some distance. That was very smart Naruto, but if your main attacks fail, think of something else. Never go wild with attacks or you could hurt yourself in the process." He pointed to Naruto's forehead, which he just noticed was bleeding.

"You Sasuke, you have a somewhat more tactical style. Your main is Tae Kwon Doe, which would've been good if you had the power to back it up. If you had the strength, your attacks would have still hurt Naruto when he tried to counter. When your Tae Kwon Doe started to fail, you began to improvise, which was surprising. I've only seen one other person do that spin move you did on the ground. That was a hidden leaf style attack, just much slower. I think your second taijutsu should be hidden leaf. If Tae Kwon Doe doesn't work, you can always use it as a last resort."

"What about me Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Hm. Your Judo is very impressive, but I don't know Judo myself. There's only one person who can help you master that and that's Mite Gai. The same goes for hidden leaf style for you Sasuke. As for a taijutsu for you to fall back on Naruto, how about you try Jeet Kun Doe."

"But Isn't that one of the hardest arts to learn?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know. I haven't learned that either. Gai is the taijutsu expert of the village so if you have free time, you should go see him. Next time we meet will be in three days. I want you both to practice your main fighting style. I will be joining the next sparring match."

They both groaned. "Team dismissed." Kakashi said, vanishing into leaves.

Sasuke sat down and so did Naruto. He looked at Naruto's forehead.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, it's nothing. It'll be healed in a few minutes anyway."

"What?"

"It's complicated."

Sasuke thought about it for a bit but found his mind wandering back to his nightmare earlier. He cringed and began to sweat as the images flashed through his mind. He held his head in pain.

"Sasuke? Sasuke, you okay?"

He touched Sasuke and his head instantly hurt as well. The memories of his mothers death rushed his mind. Then he could here the foxes voice.

"**Naruto, it is a permanent psychological genjutsu. You must try to release it."**

'How…'

"**Focus your mind, concentrate and take hold of reality."**

Naruto did as he was told. He released the genjutsu. Sasuke, was laying on the ground, still seeing the images.

"**Do the same to him."**

Naruto focused, and touched Sasuke's forehead. Sasuke's face seemed to calm. Then he blinked.

"Na…Naruto? What just happened?"

"I don't know? Did you just put yourself in a genjutsu?"

"Genjutsu…no…" Then Itachi's eyes flashed for a split second in his mind.

'Damn him…a genjutsu. He doesn't want me to ever forget. I can't sleep because of him…that bastard!'

"Sasuke, do you need to go to the doctor or something?"

"No. I'll be fine. I…have to go. I'll see you later Naruto."

He stood and leapt away before Naruto could ask him anything. Naruto couldn't help but worry about Sasuke, and the event that had just taken place made him even more curious. However, Naruto had much more to do that seemed important as well, and didn't dwell on the situation any longer. He left the training ground, trying to clear his mind. However, something stood out to him that had happened.

'Was the fox talking to me outside?'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Daddy, I'm back!"

Ino yelled in the store as she entered, making the only customer present sigh in annoyance.

"Not so loud dear!" He said, finishing a purchase.

The customer left, but Ino caught a quick glimpse at her. She had on a brownish jacket and a fish net shirt beneath. She had her hair pinned up in a spiky ponytail.

Inoichi saw her watching the customer but said nothing.

"Daddy-"

"Don't worry. She's not dangerous. Those were semi poisonous plants."

Ino shrugged it off and walked behind the counter. She grabbed an apron and was prepared to take her spot behind the cash register.

"Not this time sweety. We have a new hand coming in today, so I need you to get the charts out."

"A new hand? You hired someone else?"

"Yes, but only temporarily."

"Who is it?"

"Uzamaki Naruto."

Ino's mouth gaped open. Inocihi couldn't help but laugh at his daughters face.

"What's wrong dear?" He called trying to hold in more laughs.

She shot her father a dirty look.

"I forgot to talk to him after graduation! When did you see him?"

"When you were out with your team. I loaned him money and in return he's going to work here."

"Daddy how could you do that without telling me?"

"You like surprises don't you?" He called still laughing.

"That's so unfair!" She yelled, running into the back to retrieve the charts.

'Wow, she seems a little different already and he hasn't even been here.'

She returned with a thick stack of dusty papers. She deliberately blew the dust at Inoichi, making him cough and grimace.

"These are so old. Shouldn't you update these daddy?"

"Well…yeah but…I guess never got around to it."

"Dad, these documents say they're from thirteen years ago. You've had plenty of time to renew them."

"Well why don't you learn how to renew them and save me the trouble."

"Ugh, you're so lazy!" She smiled.

"I'll do it manually." She said.

"That'll take hours. You'll have to catalog them all one by one, then see what're their special growing habits and what areas they come from around the world-"

"I know daddy. I can do it."

"You can't do it before Naruto gets here. Just try to sort those out, and put the ones we don't have anymore back for references."

She nods and gets to work. She looks at some of the flowers on display.

'Hey, wait!'

She was looking at the Pink Lotus.

"Dad, you're so careless! You put 1200 yen instead of ryo! You really need to drink coffee in the morning."

He looked over and noticed his mistake.

"My bad. I was in a rush. And speaking of the Pink Lotus, Ino one is missing. Do you know what happened to it?"

She hesitated before answering. "Uh…no, I don't."

"Funny, cause I thought that stock said that 12 were coming in but we only have ten, counting that someone bought one today. You brought them in right?"

"Yes but I don't have a clue what happened daddy. They must have made a mistake."

Inoichi frowned. "Well okay. But If you find out what happened to it, tell me. I don't want to have to work our extra hand even longer to pay for the flower."

Ino gasped and blushed.

'He knew?'

Ino's blush didn't fade, even when Naruto had arrived.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As soon as she set foot in the house, she had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. Her training with team eight had went way too smoothly, so she knew something bad had to happen right afterwards. Although as much as she wanted this thought to be false, it wasn't.

"Nee-chan, papa wants to speak with you." Hinabi said with her head down.

Hinata gulped, not liking the tone her little sister had used. She walked slowly through the house and towards her fathers meditation chamber. Hinabi slid the door open and bowed on one knee. Hinata walked in and did the same. Hiashi looked at Hinata with a look of slight disdain.

"Rise." He said sternly, sending a chill down Hinata's back.

"Hinabi, leave us be." Hinabi left in a hurry.

He glared at Hinata, making her fell uneasy. She had started to twiddle her fingers again.

"I will get straight to the point. Hinata, I don't ever want to see you talking to that demon child again! Naruto, as he is called."

Hinata almost passed out again from her fathers words. She looked around desperately, as if there was something in the room that could help her. She started to shiver with the pain of sorrow.

"Father…he…Naruto is not a demon! Naruto has never done anything to anyone-"

"Do not even speak that demons name in my presence. Hinata he took away what was most precious to us. She suffered for years before death took her into it's embrace."

Hinata knew he was talking about her mother. She had been hurt when the kyuubi attacked, but the fatal effects didn't show until after Hinabi's birth. No one ever knew why. Hinata was one of the only genin who knew about the demon being in Naruto. The Hokage had explained it to Hiashi when she had died.

"No…that was not Naruto's fault! He was just a baby! He is not the kyuubi!"

Hiashi grew furious.

"Leave my sight Hinata! Leave me or I swear by kami I will hurt you!"

Hinata bit her lip, but not from complete sadness. Because her father would blame Naruto for her mothers death. It wasn't his fault at all. How could he just blame someone for what happened without a second thought. She turned and left the room, running to her own. She laid onto the bed and began to openly cry. Hinabi crossed the room and sat by her sister.

"Hinata? Why did daddy call that orange boy a demon?"

She turned to Hinabi and stopped long enough to speak.

"Because, Hinabi, father is a fool. He will never understand how I feel or Naruto. Naruto is not a demon, and don't let anyone, not even father, tell you otherwise."

_I need help. People, check your emails. I PM people…a lot. I ask for help that way instead of publicly broadcasting it like I'm doing now. The other option is to ask my brother for help again, and some of you know that won't go well. Ah well, onto next chapt!_


	5. A new day dawns

-1_This is my disclaimer. I don't own Naruto, Kyuubi, or anyone in this fic for that matter. (Thanks for reminding me of the horrible truth.) These events are completely fictional and did not occur in the show, will ever occur in the show, or involve Naruto being gay. For the last time, sorry gravitation fans._

Chapter 5: A new day dawns

He was once again sitting in his office, the sacrificial part of being Hokage. Nothing to do in the middle of the day besides paper work. With a sigh he glanced out his window and towards Hokage mountain, which portrayed the faces of four unique men. However, one stood out to him the most. He found his mind drifting back to his conversation with Naruto, no more than 12 hours ago. He wasn't expecting a knock at the door to interrupt his thoughts nor was he expecting the person who knocked.

"Naruto. What a pleasant surprise. Have a seat." He motioned to one of the chairs in front of his desk.

He silently sat down, but he looked like something else was on his mind. Pushing whatever it was away, he looked at the Hokage, smiled, and bowed.

"Good evening Hokage-sama. How's your day going?"

The Hokage frowned slightly, seeing that Naruto still had his charade going, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

"It is fine so far Naruto. How about you? This was your first day on team 7 under Kakashi was it not?"

"Hai. Kakasahi-sensei is strict but I can tell he only wants the best for us. He seems to not really like us though."

The Hokage looked down. Kakashi had his reasons for how he felt, though they probably weren't the best reasons.

"Actually, that's the whole reason I wanted to talk to you Hokage-sama. I wanted to ask a favor."

"Sure Naruto what is it?"

"I want you to re-instate Sakura onto our team Lord Hokage. I don't think she should pay for what her mother did. I know it hasn't even been a day, but this isn't her fault. She didn't tell Ishi to burn my house, that was her own poor judgment."

The Third smirked. "Naruto…that is very kind of you. Are you sure you want her back on your team so soon?"

"Hai. I kind of exploded on her yesterday for not telling me about it as soon as she found out besides going to Sasuke-teme, but now I realize that she was probably confused about the whole thing."

The Hokage pulled a paper out of his drawer and stamped it. Then he asked Naruto to sign the bottom.

"Naruto, you did not have to do this."

"I know. I just felt…like I had to for some reason."

After he signed the Hokage explained what it was.

"Naruto, these documents are for temporary re-instatement of Sakura. If you feel she does not deserve to be returned to the team, bring them back and I will immediately remove her from the genin roster, permanently. However, after a week has passed and you have not returned these papers, she will be put onto your team for good, and you will have no say in the matter anymore. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Fine. Take these papers to Kakashi. He will return them to you the next time you go for training."

As Naruto left, he frowned. He was avoiding talking to Naruto about what he really wanted. The scroll that Mizuki had wanted. However, the scroll held a secret that he didn't know how to reveal just yet, but from what Naruto had just done, maybe he wasn't too far from receiving the secret.

It was genuine kindness, coming from the bottom of his heart. It was something that even Naruto himself didn't know he could show. Maybe it was his own better judgment. Whatever it was, it sure was different from what he was feeling. The pain he still felt from the memory that kept overriding his mind.

He tried to shake away the thought and left the Hokage's office.

'I've got a few more things to do before I can pick up Hiro. I should get to Ino's place.'

He smiled slightly when he had remembered that he was supposed to be working at the Yamanaka's. He hadn't seen Ino at all since they had graduated. It didn't take long for him to arrive at the small flower shop and when he entered, Inoichi greeted him.

"Naruto, we weren't expecting you so early. Good to see you."

"You too Inoichi-san. Hey Ino-chan!"

He said to the blonde kunoichi who had her back turned. She slowly turned to face Naruto.

"Heh-hey Naruto-kun." Her face was splashed with red.

"What's wrong? You look just like how Hinata did yesterday. You're not gonna pass out are you?"

Ino sighed, and then smiled. "Of course not. Now…uh…here."

She got an apron from behind the counter and gave it to him. She waited as he struggled with it. Then when he was officially tied up in the draw strings she pulled it from him.

"Ugh, give it here." She tried to put it on him but it was too small.

"Naruto-kun, you should take off your jacket. This won't fit with that on."

"Aw man. You don't have a bigger size?"

"No, now just take the jacket off." She said a little annoyed.

"Please Ino. I…I can't. Are you sure there's no bigger size?"

"No Naruto. Don't make me have to take it off for you." She looked away blushing as she said it, thinking she had just worded that sentence wrong.

He hesitated for a moment. Then, with a defeated sigh, he slowly unzipped it and hung it on a coat rack. He was wearing his dark blue T-shirt beneath it. Ino rose a brow at him.

"Naruto…what's that on you arm."

He quickly turned from her and covered the mark she was talking about. Inoichi was now looking as well.

"Naruto…what is that mark on your arm?" He asked.

He looked up at Inoichi. His eyes were glazed and fearful. He began to breath just a little heavier. His lip trembled. All he could do is gulp and look between him and his daughter.

"It's fine to tell us Naruto. We won't tell anyone if you don't want us to, right Ino."

"Yeah Naruto-kun. What's wrong?"

Naruto looked down. Then after a few moments of standing with his hand on his arm, he slowly raised the short sleeve on his shirt. A large gash, going from his forearm all the way to his shoulder stood out from his light complexion, seeming to glow red. Ino stuttered at the sight and Inoichi sighed in disappointment.

"Naruto…how did that happen?" Inoichi asked.

Naruto completely took off his shirt, revealing cuts and gashes all over his chest, arms, and stomach. Ino slowly moved toward him. She couldn't speak. She just stared with her mouth agape at the destroyed flesh on Naruto. She slowly touched a scar on Naruto's chest. He winced, making Ino withdraw her hand.

"Ino, stop." Inoichi said. Ino just stood in front of Naruto wanting to cry for him.

"How did all of that happen Naruto?" Inoichi asked again, trying to hold back a tear as well.

He looked down, away from them both.

"This is what happens when I make villagers mad at night. They make me pay for what I did to the village by beating me and stabbing me. No one ever comes to stop them when they hear me crying, they just look the other way like nothing is happening. They cut me until I can't bleed, beat me until I can't move, and choke me until I can't cry. Then they leave me at the back of the hospital. They don't want me to get better really. They just want me to come back out for another beating…"

He pointed to a long scar going from his right collar bone to his left in an upside down arch.

"This…is from when someone really tried to kill me. It happened two weeks ago. I was coming home from the academy, but a group of people began following me. I tried to run…I tried…" He began to choke up. This memory was harder than any of the others to tell.

"But…they chased me into an alley. I…I yelled for help. Yelled for Iruka-sensei but he was still at the academy. There was no one that would help me. No one around that cared. They…they began to surround me. They hit me with anything they could get their hands on. I was hit with a pipe, stabbed with broken glass. When it stopped, I thought someone had come to stop them from hurting me. I was wrong. A man…a man. I couldn't see his face…it was so dark. He…he sat on top of me. He smelled of strong whiskey and ginger. I knew he was drunk. He…went into his shirt and brought out a dagger. He rose it in the air and the people behind him began to cheer. He said…he said that he would end the demon spawn forever. They all cheered again and began to chant 'kill him'. The man's hand was so shaky and unstable. As soon as he put the blade to my neck, it broke skin. But his hand slid and the blade cut into my collar and he yanked it all the way to the other side. He started laughing, realizing he had messed up. He shoved the blade into my side. Then he said that he knew the perfect way to make me suffer. He began to p-pull my pants down…but I passed out."

Naruto had cried while half way through. Ino still stood in front of Naruto and Inoichi had sat down and was writing on a pad. He clutched the pen hard and had only realized Naruto had stopped speaking when he crushed it in his palm. He looked down at the inky mess and then turned to Naruto.

"Na…Naruto…Forget about working today…I want to talk to you if it is fine."

He left the room to wash his hands. Naruto dropped to his knees and began to cry. The memories were always painful and he tried his hardest not to remember them no matter what. But he knew he couldn't. The fox left the scars on him as a reminder of what the villagers had done to him. All of a sudden, he felt arms wrap around him and he was pulled into the warmth of another. Ino had got on her knees as well and hugged Naruto.

"I'm so sorry Naruto-kun. I'm so sorry." She said sobbing.

Naruto wanted to hug her back, but he was confused and he felt weak. His arms felt heavy. Inoichi returned and saw his daughter hugging Naruto, and after a while, Naruto hugged her back. The scene jerked at his emotions even more.

'What the hell…hasn't the hokage seen this? Has anyone seen this? What cowardly pathetic person would do such a thing.?' Thinking of it only mad him angrier and when he saw the look in Naruto's eyes, he wanted to crumble.

'How could they do something like that to him…to such a young and innocent boy? They…they did it two weeks ago. He was…' He couldn't finish his last thought.

'If only I could find the ones responsible for this.'

He looked at the two again, and was surprised to see them embraced even tighter than before. He walked over to them and touched Ino's shoulder.

"Ino…I want to talk to Naruto alone for a bit. Put the closed sign in the window and then go to your room for a bit."

"But…"

Inoichi hugged her. "Just do it Ino. Just for a little. Naruto will still be here."

She reluctantly nodded and then did as her father instructed. Once he was sure that Ino was in her room, he motioned for Naruto to sit at a table.

"Naruto…from what I've just heard there's something going on that you're not telling people and I think this story starts before what you told us. Just from what you said, you seem to be going through a lot of emotional and psychological stress and I can help you with it. I'm not just someone you can talk to Naruto, my family specializes in mental therapy. I know it will be hard, but I want you to talk to me Naruto, about anything regarding your past that you know. You don't have to tell me everything now. If you feel like it, we can schedule days for you to come in and we can talk."

Naruto looked down at the table. He wiped his eyes which seemed to be swelling and nodded.

"I…I want to talk to you Inoichi-san…but I don't know how. It…it hurts so much just thinking of it."

Inoichi was seeing a whole new side of Naruto. He had never given a thought that he was going threw this and his conversation with Naruto from the previous day showed no signs of it either.

'How could I be such a fool? Why didn't see how much pain he was in earlier?'

Inoichi took one of Naruto's hands.

"Just say whatever you feel comfortable with Naruto. I won't tell anyone about anything we discuss. I will try my hardest to help you deal with your problems in a better way. Hiding your emotions behind your false happiness is mentally dangerous Naruto. A day may come where you can't take it anymore, and then you'll end up going crazy or mentally deteriorating."

"But I tried to end it Inoichi-san! I really have!"

"What are you talking about Naruto?"

He watched as Naruto untied his wrist wraps. Inoichi couldn't believe his eyes. Long cuts ran all around his wrist, on both of them. He could still see veins that had been bled dry.

"Naruto…you tried…"

He nodded. "I wanted it to be over. I wanted the pain to go away. At first I only did it to try and ease the rest of the pain I was feeling. But it didn't help at all. There was nothing else I could think of and…and I knew if I could hit a vital vein then maybe I'd die in a matter of seconds…but he would never let me…"

Inoichi pulled Naruto forward embracing him. He pulled him so fast that the table clattered onto it's side.

"Naruto…you fool…there's always another way. That…suicide is never your only choice. It should never arise as a choice at all Naruto. I know the pain must have been overwhelming, but by kami, that is not the right way to end it. Never, Naruto, and I mean never, do this to yourself again. I don't know what I'd do…"

Naruto was in shock by Inoichi's affection. It was the first time in his entire life that someone had cared for him like that. Like a father. And at that moment, that's all Naruto wanted Inoichi to be to him. Not a friend, not a therapist, but his father. It took a whole ten minutes before he could recompose himself and release Naruto. Wiping one more stray tear from his eye, he sat the table back up and took his seat again. Naruto sat back down, his eyes now glowing with some far off hope.

"Naruto…as of now, your debt is cleared. However, I want you to come in Tuesday's and Thursday's so we can talk. It can be about anything you want. I want you to trust me Naruto and I'll show you that there are more people in this village that care about you than you know. I'll make sure that you don't have to go through that again and-"

Before Inoichi could finish they heard hard pounding down stairs and in an instant, Ino had flung herself onto Naruto, wrapping her arms gently around his neck from the back.

"Naruto-kun, I promise to help too! I promise not to tell anyone and you won't have to hurt anymore. I'll be there for you so you can talk to me too if daddy isn't around."

Naruto's only response was putting his head against hers.

"I would like that Ino-chan. Thank you. And thank you too Inoichi-san. I will come in. And…I think…I already trust you."

As Ino removed herself from Naruto he stood and put his clothing back on. He thanked Inoichi once more and headed towards the door.

"Hold on Naruto, I'm coming with you."

"What?"

"Did you forget already? I said I was going to make sure that nothing happened to you. That doesn't start next time we meet, it starts now."

"I'm coming too!" Ino said walking up to Naruto and grabbing his hand.

"Ino-chan…"

"Naruto…if you want someone to care about you…then I'll care the most okay. As of now…I want you to be mine."

Naruto and Inoichi were shocked by what was just spoken.

"Ino…you don't mean…"

"Yes daddy! Naruto, I want to love you! I'll show you that you have someone to care for you. I know I can probably never beat the crush you have on Sakura…but I want to at least try."

"But what about Sasuke?" Naruto asked, more confused than ever.

"I…never really liked him anyway, and he definitely doesn't like me. Besides, he doesn't deserve me. You're the person I want Naruto."

He hesitated. She turned to face him. Without thinking, she pulled him to her and kissed him. Naruto went wide eye. Her lips were soft. It was the best feeling he had ever felt in his life. After that the only thought on his mind was that it was over too soon. He looked into her face but she stared at the floor, as pink as the flowers growing in the shop. He took the lead, and kissed her back, just a small peck on the lips, because he was still confused about the first.

"Thank you." He said turning to Inoichi for full approval. Inoichi just smiled and nodded.

"You know what this means now Naruto." He said.

"What?"

"You're a part of this family now. Anything you need, just ask."

Naruto didn't know how, but in his short time in the Yamanaka residence, he had acquired not only friends, but a family. But deep down in him, he knew he would still and always be alone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Three days later…(Sunday morning)

The days had gone by slowly. Nothing had happened whatsoever that was of any importance to Naruto. He thought it was weird. It was the most peace he'd had in a while. But what was even weirder was that he hadn't heard from Sasuke at all. After their first training session with Kakashi, Naruto hadn't even seen him around the village. However, ever since he had picked up Hiro from the vet, he didn't really leave Iruka's house anyway. Even Ino had come over twice to see him and play with Hiro. No one else in the village, including Iruka, knew of Naruto and Ino's relationship. They had taken the utmost care as to make sure it got out when the time was right. He was happy now though. He was finally going out for his second training session, and Sasuke would be there. With the past boring days, he was almost sure nothing could go wrong.

"Iruka-sensei, I'm leaving! Walk Hiro for me will ya? Oh, and he left a present for you in the kitchen." Naruto darted out the house after he said the last part. He waited until he heard Iruka yell at the top of his lungs. "NARUTO!!!!"

He chuckled and then quickly made his way to training ground six. Even if just a little, Naruto was happy that in the past few days, things had started to look up for him. Even the sun shined bright, as if finalizing his bliss. Once he made it to the training ground, he sat where he sat before. Sasuke wasn't there but he didn't expect him to be. He had got there early.

He laid back and started to watch the clouds float by slowly. After a while he heard someone approaching. Leaning up, he saw Sasuke leap from a tree and land right in front of him.

"Hey Sasuke-teme, now you're late."

Sasuke just glared at Naruto before sitting down next to him.

"I'm not late. you're too damn early."

Naruto was glad to see that nothing was wrong with Sasuke but couldn't help but ask.

"Did you figure out what happened with that genjutsu thing?"

Sasuke looked away. "Just forget about it."

"But-"

"FORGET IT!" Sasuke yelled, making Naruto flinch.

He looked away again. Naruto looked back at the clouds. He watched as one slowly began to separate, and then break into two completely. They sat waiting for Kakashi in silence for another two hours. He finally showed up and this time, neither were sleep.

"Hello you two. So, did either one of you go see Gai?"

They shook their heads. It had slipped their minds.

"You're lucky then, because I have to cancel the spar anyway. We can finally begin your real training. You may join your team now."

He spoke loudly. Sakura happily ran onto the training ground. Sasuke just sighed but Naruto smile.

"Welcome back Sakura." Kakashi said.

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei."

"It's not me you should be thanking."

She turned towards the boys.

"Oh yeah. Thank you Sasuke-kun, for having me re-instated!"

Naruto's happiness took a big hit from her words. He looked down, feeling regret for having gone to the third.

"You idiot, I didn't do anything. Naruto must have."

"What? No way, Naruto wouldn't have…"

"He did Sakura." Kakashi said.

She gazed at Naruto.

"You didn't even give it a second thought. You just automatically assumed that Sasuke was the one who did it for you." He said without looking at her.

"I…thought you would have been still mad at me. Naruto…I really didn't-"

"Save it. I could care less anyway. Kakashi-sensei, can we start the training?"

"Already? Don't you two want to keep talking?" He said, his head buried in his book.

"You just want to keep reading!" Naruto called.

Kakashi sighed and put the book away. "And it just got to the best part."

He stood up and went in his back pocket. He held out three bells in front of him.

"This will be your first exercise. It will test your every aspect of ninjutsu, kenjutsu, and taijustu. All you have to do is take the bells from me. But be warned, if you don't attack with the intent of killing me, you won't get a bell. You have until sun down to retrieve one bell. Oh yeah, and if you fail this, you will be kicked from the genin roster and immediately sent back to the academy."

"What?!" Naruto and Sakura yell. Sasuke just gasped.

"You can't be serious."

"Note serious glare." He said pointing to his one visible eye, which seemed to be just as lazy as the white haired nin himself.

"Now…begin."

They all hesitated, not really knowing what to do. Kakashi sighed.

"You all WANT to go back to the academy?"

All at once they rush forward. Then Naruto sees Sasuke doing hands signs and put his fingers to his mouth.

"Katon: Goukakyu no jutsu!"

'What? When did he learn that so fast?'

Kakashi thought as he jumped out the way of the giant fireball. Just when he landed he saw someone on his opposite side.

"Got you Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura called.

As soon as she touched him she felt herself being pulled away.

"Huh? Naruto what are you doing? I had him." She called punching him. Then, Kakashi exploded.

"That wasn't Kakashi-sensei." He said rubbing his cheek.

Sakura flushed of color. "That…could've killed me."

Sasuke landed next to them. He sighed and turned around looking in every direction.

"I don't see him anywhere, but I can still feel his chakra signature."

"Naruto, how did you know that wasn't Kakashi-sensei?"

"I saw Sasuke's jutsu and had waited for an opening. However I saw Kakashi do a hand sign when he jumped away so I thought it was a kage bunshin. I didn't know it would explode. It looks like he was serious about attacking with the intent of killing him."

"Yeah, but if he created a clone, then where is the real him?" Sasuke said.

Just then, two hands popped out of the ground and grabbed Naruto's ankles.

"Ugh, what the?" He did a hand sign and expelled some chakra.

The hands that held him exploded, making a big crater in the ground. From Kakashi's hiding spot, he glanced over his book at what had just happened.

'Smart. He used the same technique as me to create a kage bunshin right before mine exploded. I wonder if he can keep it up.'

Sakura and Sasuke look at the crater and Naruto pulls himself from the rubble.

"Aw man, I didn't know I would end up underground."

"Naruto, that was quick thinking. Now we have to find the real one."

"I think I know how."

Naruto put his hands together. This he began to focus all the chakra in his body into his eyes. The chakra began to spin inside his pupil, making it seem like his sapphire eyes were swirling.

'What the hell is he doing?' Sasuke thought.

Kakashi watched, feeling the concentration of chakra. Then he saw Naruto focusing chakra into his eyes.

'What?! That can't be…but how does he know that? Did the third…' He felt his chakra leaving him and moved.

"Deltaigon!" Naruto called as the chakra began to spin on it's own finally. He cringed as everything became all chakra. However, as Naruto looked at Sasuke and Sakura, he saw not only their chakra points, but there spirits as well.

"Sasuke…" He whispered as he saw a black cloud inside the Uchiha.

"What? Can you see him?" He asked.

"Wait…" He diverted his gaze from Sasuke and into the trees that surrounded the area. He saw Kakashi's soul and chakra points, both blue.

Then the jutsu cut short and he dropped to his knees, coughing up blood.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah (cough) I'm fine. Kakashi-sensei is to the south, moving northwest."

Sasuke nodded and flew into the trees. Sakura followed. Naruto took a moment to get his chakra back and to stop his coughing. He wondered if he should use the Deltaigon so freely, seeing as it was making him bleed on the insides. It also left him open to attacks after he used it. He looked around trying to see if anyone was coming. Then he felt a jab in his bottom. For a second all he could do was look at Kakashi who held a kunai in his butt. Kakashi rose it, launching Naruto into the air while holding his backside.

"1000 years of pain." Kakashi said when Naruto began to scream and cuss.

"Phoenix Flower jutsu!" Sasuke's voice called from behind Kakashi.

Kakashi turned and did hand signs so fast that they scared Sasuke.

"Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" He called back.

The small fireballs crashed into each other, but Kakashi's were stronger and slammed into Sasuke.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Kakashi didn't have time to retaliate as twenty Naruto's dog piled him.

"Yeah! I got…huh?"

All the clones burst into smoke as Kakashi stood, holding a demon windmill shuriken. Naruto was on the ground right next to Kakashi.

"Almost had me Naruto, but that attempt could have been better."

"I think it is better." He said as he made one more hand sign and exploded, sending Kakashi into the small lake.

He stood up to see Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke standing on the edge of the water.

"Well that was clever. I wasn't expecting something like that from you."

"Actually, me and Sasuke thought it out before he went into the forest after you. The Phoenix Flower was just a distraction."

"Just like this conversation." A Kakashi that stood behind the three said with a book in one hand and a kunai in the other. The Kakashi that was in the water turned into smoke.

"Shimate!" Naruto said as he felt the kunai against his neck.

"Plan B." Sasuke said as he and Sakura ran in two different directions.

Naruto dropped something, making Kakashi look down. When he did, Naruto darted away as fast as he could. He had dropped an exploding tag. Then a kunai hit it in the center, and exploded right in front of Kakashi. He had saw Sakura throw the kunai and had time to move out the way.

'Hmm…they're much better at this than I expected. I wonder if I'm pushing them too seriously.'

Sakura at in a tree wondering what was going on. Everything had gotten quiet. Plan B was to split up, but now she wasn't so sure it was a good idea. She dropped from the tree she was in and began to quickly make her way through the forest. Then she heard a rustle in the bushes. She drew her kunai ready to attack at any moment. She gasped when she saw Sasuke come from behind a tree. He was bleeding bad and had several kunai and shuriken sticking out of his back.

"Sa…Sakura-chan…"

She gulped. After a moment of taking in the sight with an expressionless face, she dropped to her knees. Then she screamed.

"SASUKEEEE-KUUUUUUNNN!!!" Before passing out.

The Sasuke disappeared. Kakashi turned and left, after finishing with the genjustsu he had put on Sakura.

'Well that was easy. One down, two to go.'

However, right when he turned around, Sakura was there and grabbed a bell.

"What the?!" He looked down at the passed out Sakura, when the one that snatched a bell stuck out her tongue. The one on the ground turned into Naruto, and he stood up and darted away, after Sakura.

"Those little sneaks…that was brilliant."

Naruto and Sakura jumped through bushes and landed in front of Sasuke.

"You're plan worked Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed seeing the smirk on his comrades face.

"Of course it did. Look who you're dealing with." He replied.

"We couldn't have done it without your transformation Naruto." Sakura said.

"Yeah, you've got some hell of a lot of chakra."

"I agree." Kakashi said above them.

"Damn it! Let's go!" Sasuke calls. They all run in different directions again.

"Not this time." Kakashi threw three kunai's in the directions of the three. Each had an exploding tag attached to it. They hit trees in front of their respective person and exploded blocking their paths.

Sakura got scared, but instead of stopping she launched a punch right into the fallen tree, destroying it.

"That's some fucking punch." Kakashi said and looked towards Sasuke, however he had already burned the tree in his way and was continuing on.

Naruto created a shadow clone and propelled himself above one. Without warning, all three directions exploded. Kakashi went wide eye.

"What? Are we being attacked?"

He darted toward where Sasuke was to see him laying in a bloody mess. He rushed over to him.

"Oh no! Sasuke! What happened?!" He called and looked around the area. He could feel several chakra signatures surrounding him.

Then Sasuke grabbed a bell.

"Better luck next time Kakashi-sensei." He taunted as he jumped away.

"What?" The chakra signatures vanished into one as he finally realized it was Naruto and kage bunshins.

'Alright, I'm starting to think these kids are freggin geniuses.'

As he turned around, he saw Sakura throw shuriken at him. He deflected them with a kunai. However, while some of the shuriken were still in the air, he heard Naruto's voice.

"Kage shuriken no jutsu."

The shuriken burst into twenty and rained down on Kakashi, cutting the last bell from his waist, and just as it was about to fall, Naruto darted at him and snatched it.

Kakashi could only stare in awe. They had finished much faster than he had ever expected. The last move caught him off guard, because he was still shocked from the exploding Sasuke trick. He slowly began to clap as all three of his students came into view.

"This was your first exercise as a team and that was marvelous. You three have exceeded my expectations. Especially you Naruto. Well done."

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei." They all say.

"Now doesn't it feel good working together? See how much you all can accomplish. Now come on. I have lunches for you and then you are dismissed."

They followed him back to the training ground. They all were smiling, feeling some sense of accomplishment from beating Kakashi at his own game. Once they were back at the training ground, Kakashi told them to sit down by three logs. Naruto sat by the middle one, Sasuke to his left, Sakura on his right. However, as soon as he sat down, ropes wrapped around his body and tied him to the log.

"Hey! What the hell? What's the deal Kakashi-sensei?" He whined while he struggled against the bonds.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Last one who gets a bell doesn't get to eat and has to watch their teammates eat. Sorry Naruto." He said as he handed Sasuke and Sakura lunches.

"Sorry!? If you were sorry you'd let me eat!" He cried, stumbling rumbling loudly. "This is so unfair…"

Kakashi turned from them. "I have something to do quickly. Don't leave, I'll be back. Oh, and don't feed Naruto or I'll immediately kick whosoever does off the squad, permanently." He shushined away.

"Oh come on Kakashi-sensei! Come back, you can't be serious! Can I at least have some ramen?"

He dropped his head, realizing it was futile to call anymore.

"Here." Sasuke said holding out his chicken to Naruto.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun? What are you doing? You'll be kicked off the team if you help him!"

"So? He won't find out if you don't tell him. Besides, Naruto's hungry so why not?"

"But…" She looked down at her own food,

"Are you sure Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"Go ahead. I'm not hungry anyway."

"Thanks!" He called and sucked the lunch from Sasuke's hands in one gulp.

"Here, you can have mine too." Sakura said.

"Thanks Sakura!" He did the same thing. Then he belched.

"You know, the funny thing about this is that I was planning on going to Ichiraku's afterwards anyway." He chuckled.

"Naruto, you baka!" Sakura scolded him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After leaving the three genin on the training ground, Kakashi made his way to Hokage Tower hastily. Once there, he disregarded the front door and went straight to the window to his office.

"Hmm, Kakashi. Aren't you supposed to be with your team right now?" He asked sitting in his chair, apparently just awaking from a nap since all his papers were scattered over his desk.

"Yes sir, and I wanted to ask something."

"What is it?"

"It's about Naruto sir."

The Third looked down sternly and then sighed.

"Continue."

Kakashi stood from the window sill and walked over to a wall.

"While we were training today, Naruto used a technique."

"Which technique."

"The Deltaigon."

"What?!" The Third had stood up.

"So I take it you didn't know."

"No Kakashi, I did not. However, this shouldn't surprise me."

"Lord Hokage, what's going on? The reason I wanted to ask about that technique is because I'm one hundred percent sure it's a Keke Genkei, a blood line limit. The only other person that I've seen use that technique is-"

"The Fourth Hokage, Naruto's father."

Now it was Kakashi's turn to be shocked. He almost lost his balance and fell onto the floor.

"Lord Hokage…you mean to tell me…that Naruto is the Legendary Yondaime's…son. But how? Why would you keep this from us?"

"Because, Kakashi, it was a promise. Even Naruto doesn't know."

"Then…then how does he know that technique?"

Saritobi took a long puff from his pipe and sighed.

"A few days ago Kakashi, on the same night that Naruto's apartment was destroyed, Mizuki was arrested. He was trying to steal the Fourth's Forbidden scroll. This scroll contains ten jutsu that he had been developing, going from weakest to strongest. The scroll was forbidden because eight of the ten techniques could either cause massive damage or hurt the user. Mizuki had tried to get Naruto to steal the scroll for him, intending on taking the scroll and having Naruto to blame for it. The shrine where the scroll was had a protective jutsu placed on it. The only way for a person to receive the scroll would be by using the Deltaigon to find a weak point, or by being Hokage. Naruto must have read the scroll. I don't know why I didn't realize it earlier."

"That's the only technique besides shadow clones that he used. I don't think he saw all of them."

"It seems. However, Kakashi, this information is to never leave this room is that understood. I do not want to break my promise so soon. I will tell Naruto the truth, and give him the scroll when the time is right. I trust you will not tell anyone, not even Naruto about this."

"Hai sir. I won't tell. This explains so much though. The resemblance between Naruto and Minato-sensei is uncanny. I think somewhere deep down, I always knew."

The third nodded and dismissed Kakashi. Kakashi felt strange, as if the negativity that he felt about Naruto was gone. The Fourth's son, was now his student. Oh how fate played cruel tricks. Now, he felt horrible about what he thought about Naruto in general and vowed, he would try to do things differently.

**A/N** _I can't believe this took me two days to type and I still cut it short. I noticed that the story was moving too slow so I did a small time skip. I was kind of worried when I saw that over four chapters, roughly two days had passed. SO! The story will be moving faster from this point on. Anyways, tell me what you think people! This is where my free time is going, feed back needed._


	6. Inoichi's Plan

-1

_As if you all didn't know this, I don't own Naruto or any other characters mentioned in this story. If I did, this story represents exactly how the show would have went._

Chapter 6: Inoichi's plan

"Come on Hinata, you're not even paying attention anymore!" Kiba called to his comrade as he threw kunai her way. She dodged to the left, narrowly avoiding one.

"Uh…Sorry Kiba-kun."

"What's the matter with you?" He asked flipping one up and down.

She looked down and blushed. "Nothing. Sorry, I'll pay attention." However she was thinking about a blonde haired shinobi who she hadn't seen in three days. He had promised to come back and talk to her but he never did. He never said when he would either, so no matter how long she waited, she kept reassuring herself that he would see her again. But she couldn't see him anywhere near the Hyuga compound. Her father had made his point clear on that. She began to get mad again as she remembered the words her father had spoken.

Kiba threw another kunai and this time Hinata put a palm forward, releasing a burst of chakra. The kunai stopped for a second and then turned and flew right back at him. He wasn't expecting it and the kunai made contact with his left arm. Hinata gasped and ran over to him.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry Kiba-kun! I really didn't try to!"

Kurenai and Shino had come over from doing the same exercise.

"What happened?" Kurenai asked.

"I…I…" Hinata was scared at what her sensei might say.

"It's alright Kurenai-sensei. Hinata accidently deflected it back. It was pretty cool though, how'd you do it?" Kiba asked, cringing as Shino removed the kunai from his arm.

Hinata looked down, still thinking she'd done wrong. Kurenai noticed and touched her shoulder.

"What, no answer?" She said smiling.

"Uh…I…just released chakra…from my palm."

"You make it sound easy." Shino said lazily, looking at several butterfly fluttering overhead.

"That's because it is. For Hinata anyway." Kurenai said.

"Hinata is the heir of the Hyuga clan and specializes in close hand combat and chakra manifestation. But deflecting a kunai like that must have taken a lot of force Hinata, that's very impressive."

"Thank you Kurenai-sensei. I've been practicing."

"Well that's enough for today. Hinata, come with me."

Hinata was startled. "Huh…but why Kurenai-sensei?"

"You'll see. Team dismissed." Shino and Kiba bow before leaving the two.

"Kurenai-sensei, I honestly didn't try to hurt Kiba."

"I know, Hinata, that's not why I'm bringing you with me."

Kurenai began to walk from the training ground, Hinata following closely next to her.

"Are you hungry Hinata?"

"Uh…a little."

Kurenai nodded and led her to a small restaurant. They sat in a booth by the door. After they had placed their orders Kurenai put her chin on her hands and looked at Hinata.

"Okay. Hinata, what's up? You weren't focusing today and something's troubling you. That much is obvious."

"There's nothing wrong Kurenai-sensei. Honest."

"Hinata, we're both young women hanging out here. We're going to be around each other for a while, so you should start trusting me. You can tell me what's wrong."

Hinata twiddled her fingers in front of her. She looked around, still feeling her sensei's eyes on her. With a defeated sigh, she looked Kurenai in the eyes.

"Kurenai-sensei, do you believe that someone should be blamed for something that they didn't do?"

The question wasn't what Kurenai was expecting but she answered anyway.

"No Hinata. If someone didn't do anything then they shouldn't have to be punished. Why? Were you blamed for something?"

"No…" She stayed silent, looking away again.

"Then who?" Kurenai asked, getting interested in the question.

"Naruto…" She said in a whisper.

Kurenai could only draw back, holding a solemn look on her face. She had heard a lot about the young shinobi. He was a prankster, always in trouble, and snide. However, what distinguished him from the rest of kids that acted the same way was that he held the deadly beast known as the Kyubi. She wondered what Hinata's relationship with the jinchuriki was.

"Hinata. What do you know about Naruto?" She spoke in a whisper so no one around would hear their conversation.

"…Everything. Even what's sealed inside him." She whispered as well.

'So she does know…' "When did you find out?" She asked.

Hinata found her gaze once again diverted towards the table. "A few years back…my mother died. She…had been poisoned."

"Poisoned? By what?"

"The Kyubi's chakra. They don't know how or why, but she was around the Kyubi for far too long, and the chakra began to effect her."

'I remember someone saying that the Kyubi's chakra was dangerous just being around it, but never poisonous?'

Hinata stopped when the waitress came back to the table with their food. Once she was gone Hinata continued, with a little strain in her voice.

"Four years ago, the poisons effects began to show. She began to faint without warning. She had consistent vomiting with blood, and soon her memory began to fade. She lost all of her chakra…and…and…"

Kurenai didn't know she was making Hinata remember something so painful. She wanted to say something to, to make Hinata stop, but she could find nothing to say.

"She suffered…for six months before she died in the Hyuga hospital. Even with our bloodline and medicines, they could do nothing to stop the poison from completely destroying her mind and body. They don't know why it took so long for the poison to take effect or why it took so long for her to die. All they know is that the reason she was poisoned was because of the Kyubi."

Hinata wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. She was trying to be strong. She had told herself over and over again that she wouldn't cry about it any longer. She didn't want to pity herself, nor did she want her mothers memory to be all sadness.

"I'm sorry Hinata."

"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault, you didn't even know. Don't feel sorry for me or my mother. We don't want pity, we just want encouragement. That's what Naruto used to say in class."

"Hinata, what does this have to do with Naruto?"

She drunk some water to wet her throat which had been drying.

"My father…he blames Naruto for the death of my mother."

Kurenai finally understood everything except for one thing. However, she would address it later.

"Your father is just like many other people in this village that see the Kyubi instead of Naruto. I think it is the loss that ails him. He isn't blaming Naruto, Hinata. I think he is blaming himself for not being able to save her."

"But he feels it is easier to blame Naruto for it. Naruto shouldn't have to suffer for what a monster did. Just because it was sealed inside of him doesn't mean he **is** the nine tails."

"Hinata, why do you feel so strongly about this?"

She was blushing now, and took another drink of water. Kurenai saw the look on her students face and smiled slightly.

'I see.'

"He..he's…great inspiration. He shouldn't have to go through mess like that, no one should."

"So have you talk to him about it?"

"Uh…no. I haven't seen him since that night since father banned him from the compound. He has guards making sure that Naruto never comes back."

"You know he's doing it to protect you right?"

"Protect me from what? Naruto wouldn't do anything to hurt me…us."

"Your father doesn't see that. Hinata, I wish I can help but I think this is something that you will have to deal with, with your father and Naruto."

"I…I don't know how. I can't…"

"Yes you can Hinata. You're a strong person. I can see that already and I've only known you for three days. Look, I'll try to help. The most I can do is find Naruto and talk to him for you. However, you will have to discuss things with your father on your own. I doubt he would take kindly to you having told me these things."

"You're right Kurenai-sensei, and thank you."

Kurenai smiled. Hinata was doing a lot more than she had too. She could look the other way, just like the hundreds of other people in the village. She could hate Naruto, just like everyone else. But she decides not to. Kurenai had actually avoided Naruto, the fact that she had almost felt the same way. But now, she didn't see him like everyone else at all. She wished she had been like Hinata.

"Alright, enough of this depressing talk. Let's eat. Oh, and I want to hear all about how you developed a crush on your classmate."

Hinata choked on the turkey she had been eating. Kurenai could only laugh and pat her back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He wondered why it had happened again. After Kakashi had returned to the training field and released Naruto, Sasuke left without saying a word again. Kakashi gave him the papers back and after asking Naruto if Sakura deserved to stay on the team, Naruto conceded. He wasn't exactly happy with the way she acted still, however he knew that she deserved another chance. Everyone did. Sakura for her part, was shocked at Naruto's answer and thanked him as much as she could.

"Naruto, I really do appreciate it."

"For the thousandth time Sakura, you're welcome."

She smiled and looked down with her arms behind her back. She walked in front of Naruto and began walking backwards.

"Let's go to Ichiraku's."

"What? Don't you want to go find Sasuke?" He asked a little annoyed.

She frowned. "No. I want to hang with you for now. You don't want too?"

Naruto thought for a second. It was what he had always wanted, but now he wasn't so sure. He felt like he still held some type of feeling for the pink haired kunoichi, but he had someone else in mind. This made his decision easier.

"Sorry, Sakura, but I have somewhere to be right now. We can hang out tomorrow."

"Promise?"

"Yeah. See ya."

He walked away. Sakura looked up.

'Wow…this is harder than I thought.'

Naruto was confused at Sakura's sudden change in behavior. It creeped him out. He would hang with her the following day, and figure out her reasons. As for now, he had someone to see so he made his way towards the familiar scent of flowers. He ignored the glares going his way. It was all he could do. He had his head down and a smile on his face. He wouldn't let anyone get him down.

However, he had a strange feeling like he was being followed. He picked his pace up a bit, but never showing that he knew someone was there. When he was a few yards from the Yamanaka shop, the feeling went away. This is when he turned and scanned the area.

'Who was that…'

"**Whomever it was is gone now."**

'What the?'

In that instant, he was forcefully pulled into the depths of his existence. The giant bars that held the Kyubi at bay were once again in front of him. It still held the form of a normal fox.

"Hey, how were you speaking to me when I was not here?"

"**The seal has cracked again." **It said looking up.

Naruto followed his gaze and saw that now the seal had two very small cracks on it. He was getting worried.

"Why is it cracking? What happened this time?"

"**Three days ago, when you were with the Uchiha. Whatever happened to you and him, made that cracked the seal again."**

"I don't understand. The seal is cracking because of a genjutsu?"

"**No. It cracked because of the emotions you felt."**

"Emotions…"

"**Just like everything else, emotions affect everything. Depending on your feelings, you could be strong or weak. Your emotions effect your chakra, your soul, and as far as I can tell, this seal as well."**

"I still don't get it."

The fox sighed and laid down, crossing its paws but holding its head up.

"**When you got angry while fighting Mizuki, this seal cracked. When you were with Sasuke and remembered what happened to your mother, you got angry. So far, I can see that anger is destroying the seal. As far as your other emotions go, we will have to wait. The only thing I can tell you is to control your anger, or this village will burn."**

"Alright. But why are you trying to make sure I don't release you?"

"**I do not wish to kill anyone that you care for. However, if the day comes where I do leave this prison, I will not hesitate to take anyone's life."**

With his final words, the Kyubi pushed Naruto from his mind. He reeled dizzily as everything spun. When he got his balance, he looked around once more. Then he continued on to the flower shop.

"Ino, we're closing up early today. The next shipment is supposed to be here soon."

"Alright daddy." The blonde called finalizing a purchase.

"Thank you, have a nice day."

As the person left, someone else came in. Ino brightened and quickly walked from behind the counter.

"Hey Naruto-kun." She said and flung herself at him.

He caught her and laughed.

"You're happy today. What's up?"

"That's what I should be asking you. You're not supposed to come here until Tuesday."

"I wanted to see you. Is that so wrong?"

She blushed and shook her head. Then she planted a quick kiss on his lips. Then another. Before they could continue, Inoichi walked in from the back.

"Sorry, but you two will have to wait for that. The shipment is early. Ino close up. Naruto, you wouldn't mind helping me with the flowers would you?"

He reluctantly let go of Ino, but agreed non the less. Ino locked the door and turned off their open sign as Inoichi lead Naruto into the back room.

"Don't worry, I'll pay you for this."

"No, you don't have too."

"Stop being so modest Naruto. It's just like a quick job."

The back of the shop was larger than Naruto expected. It was filled with different types of plants and flowers. There was a large door at the back and several men were unloading large bags from a truck. Naruto gulped when he saw that the truck was filled to the very top with the bags.

"It shouldn't take too long."

"I know it won't take long. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Naruto called creating twenty clone. They all began to work. It surprised Inoichi, because not only did the clones finish the job hastily, they even cataloged the flowers. It took about half a hour to complete the job.

"Thanks, Naruto, you're a big help! It usually takes all day to finish all this. We can open up shop again today."

Ino groaned from the doorway, making Inoichi laugh.

"Or you two can hang out. I can handle the shop myself."

"Thank you Inoichi-san."

He paid Naruto and began to reopen the shop. Ino grabbed Naruto's arm and dragged him up stairs to her room. From below Inoichi yelled.

"Leave the door open Ino." Making Naruto blush but no more than Ino.

Her room was large. The walls were covered with a valentine themed wall paper, showing hearts and cupids. It was just a little too pink for Naruto. She had no posters. He sat on her queen sized bed. There were two dressers, a wardrobe, a small computer desk, and an entertainment center. Ino had it made.

"Wow Ino, you've got a lot of stuff."

"I know. I'm lucky that daddy doesn't say no."

She sat next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"How much longer are you going to stay with Iruka-sensei?"

"Until they finish my apartment. It should be in a week, I hope."

"You…should stay here."

Naruto looked down at Ino. She turned as pink as her walls and slightly looked away. Naruto chuckled.

"I don't think Inoichi-san would like that."

"Yeah, you're right." She had a slight sad tone.

They stayed silent for a few minutes. Naruto closed his eyes. He loved her smell. She smelled like Autumn Lilacs. He wrapped an arm around her and laid his head on hers.

"Thank you Ino-chan."

"You're welcome Naruto-kun."

Not long after, they both were sleep, laying side by side. Ino's head rested on Naruto's chest and her hand held him tightly. Naruto had an arm around her still. Inoichi walked in and sat in a chair by the bed.

'Forgive me for this Naruto.'

Inoichi put his hands together like a diamond. He closed his eyes and aimed them at Naruto's sleeping figure.

'Enter!'

Everything around Inoichi grew dark. He couldn't see anything at all. He took a deep breath.

'Come on…what's with this darkness?'

Finally, the ground became visible. Then walls appeared. He was in a long corridor that seemed to stretch both ways endlessly. He looked up to see that there was no ceiling as far as he could tell. He began to walk forward. Ever step he took echoed loudly. He was uneasy about the whole thing. He had never entered a mind so dark and desolate. Then he came to turn. A short hall that held a large door at the end. The door was black and metal. He walked towards it. Fire engulfed the door, making Inoichi cover his eyes and take a step back from the heat. The flames began to form words on the door.

'Nightmares.'

He wondered if it held what he was looking for. Just as he touched the door, it vanished. He gasped at what he saw. The room was pitch black as well, but someone sat on the other side, right in front of him.

"Naruto?"

In front of him, Naruto sat hugging his knees. He was naked. Inoichi knelt down in front of him.

"Hey, are you alright?"

The Naruto looked up at Inoichi frightened. It began to look around nervously. Naruto turned around and pointed into the darkness. Inoichi squinted, trying to see what he was pointing at. Then, a small flame appeared in the darkness. Then another, and another, until at least ten flames could be seen. He heard voices.

"Kill the demon!"

"Make him pay."

"Cut his throat!"

Faces began to appear from the flames. They took on shape, creating villagers. Naruto crawled behind Inoichi, and cowered.

"Stay back!" Inoichi called.

However, black rings tightened around his wrist and ankles. They lifted him into the air, leaving Naruto vulnerable to the sadistic faces drawing nearer. He looked down at Naruto, who was still cowering, unaware of the approaching horror.

"Run Naruto! Get out of here!" Inoichi screamed from above.

Then the darkness began to change. They were in an ally. It was then that Inoichi knew that this was exactly what he was looking for. However, he didn't want it anymore. He didn't want to see this memory. There was nothing he could do.

The group of people began to surround Naruto. Just as Naruto had said, they began to beat him. Then someone was on top of Naruto. Inoichi struggled to break free of his bonds. The person held a knife in the air. Inoichi's eyes grew wide. The person put it to Naruto's throat. The cut was messed up; he was too drunk. He stabbed Naruto. But not once. He stabbed him five times. Then he began to punch Naruto in the face. The man began to unfasten his pants. Inoichi vomited all over himself, once he saw it happen. But it wasn't over. Two other people joined in. It was much worse than Naruto had described. Inoichi was screaming now. Screaming at the top of his lungs. All of a sudden he was forced out of Naruto's mind.

"Daddy! What's wrong! Daddy!"

"Eh…Ino! Ino!"

He was on the floor. Ino held her fathers head against her chest.

"Daddy, what did you do?"

She wiped his mouth with a cloth. Naruto stood a bit behind Ino, not knowing what was going on. Inoichi was in the room and was screaming. Naruto woke up and saw him on the floor vomiting. He jumped up and ran to get a cloth and brought it back to Ino. He was completely obliviously to the reason of Inoichi's ailment. He saw Ino crying as she rocked back and forth. Inoichi just clutched her arms and breathed heavily. His face was slightly hidden under Ino's embrace, but Naruto could see traces of anger.

"I…I'll come back later."

Ino looked up at him. At first, she wanted to stop him. But then she remembered what her father had done. She nodded and walked over to him. She kissed him and hugged him.

"I'm sorry Naru-kun."

"There's no need. Help your father."

After Naruto left, Ino helped her father into her bed. She sat in the chair that he had originally occupied. Inoichi couldn't even look Ino in the face. He knew that she was upset, but had no clue how much. He turned to say something to her and right away felt a sharp sting on his cheek. Ino shook her hand from the impact of slapping her father.

"How could you daddy?"

"Ino, if only you saw what I did."

"I don't care! You shouldn't have done that! You've betrayed me and Naruto!"

"No I haven't! Ino, I had my reasons for doing that. I understand you're upset but there was something I needed to do."

She resisted the urge to slap her father again and took a deep breath. She put her head in her hands and started to sob.

"If Naruto would have known what you did, he would hate both of us."

"No…I did it to help Naruto. I'm going to do what he couldn't."

Ino looked at her father startled. "What do you mean?"

Inoichi looked away. "Nothing, forget it."

She stood up over her father and shook him.

"No, you tell me! What were you planning daddy!"

He refused to speak. She smacked him again. He still refused to speak. She laid her head on his chest.

"Please tell me daddy…what are you planning?" She strained with tears.

"Tell me!" She demanded.

Begrudgingly, he forced himself to speak after hearing the venom in her voice.

"I'm going to find every single last person that was there that night, and I'm going to kill them."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He left. He wanted to stay and help, but it wasn't his place. Whatever had happened to Inoichi didn't involve him. Did it? He was about to turn to go back but something caught his eye.

"Huh? Sasuke? Where is he going?"

The Uchiha was moving swiftly towards the Uchiha compound. Naruto to began to follow him a t a distant.

'I'll check on Inoichi-san later.'

Sasuke ran on foot, so Naruto leapt by roof tops. He wondered if Sasuke knew he was being followed. It didn't take long for him to find out, as Sasuke left his view for a few seconds. Then Naruto felt a strong blow on his back, sending him slamming into the ground below. He looked up to see Sasuke standing on top of the building that he had been running on.

"Sasuke…what was that for?"

Sasuke jumped down and landed right in front of Naruto. His face reflected hatred.

"Stop following me." He said with venom.

"But…Sasuke? What's wrong with you?"

Then Sasuke's face softened like he had just realized who he was talking to. He looked down and put his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry. Just please, stop following me. I'm not in the mood to play."

Naruto looked at his comrade and couldn't help but wonder what was happening. As Sasuke began to move away Naruto stood and called to him.

"Sasuke…Do you hate me?" It was a question that Naruto wanted to bring up ever since they had met. Even if they both considered each other best friends, he couldn't help but feel resentment inside of the Uchiha.

The raven haired nin stopped. He didn't face Naruto or answer him. Naruto growled but then Sasuke turned to him.

"No. I don't hate you Naruto."

Right there, in that spot, something died between the two. However, something greater was born as well. Neither of them knew exactly what it was, but it was there. Naruto faced away from Sasuke.

"What about you Naruto? Do you hate me?"

"…No. I don't hate you either Sasuke."

They stood facing away from each other. People had stopped and were watching the two now. No one said anything. Sasuke spoke again.

"Remember what we said…"

"That we will always watch each others backs."

"Yes."

The people watching began to grow and a extremely large circle formed around the two. Then a little girl abruptly spoke.

"Mommy, are they brothers?"

"I…I don't know dear."

Both of the teens cringed at the little girls words.

"Mommy…" Naruto whispered.

"Brother…" Sasuke whispered.

Now it was only the two of them. No one else existed.

"_When we go on missions, we'll watch each others backs alright?"_

"_Even when we're not on missions, dobe. Just because we're genin now doesn't mean anything will change."_

"Sasuke…you were my best friend. You were the only person I had."

"So were you Naruto. You…were like a brother to me."

They were face to face now.

"From this day on…we are rivals." Sasuke said.

"One day, we'll fight to see who's the strongest. We can't tie any longer." Naruto continued.

Sasuke held his pinky up. Naruto looked down.

"Naruto. Promise me you won't hold back when that day comes."

"I…I promise." He took Sasuke's pinky in his own. Then, something flashed for a split second into both of their minds.

They saw a flash of red and purple. They could hear loud chirping and the swirling of wind. Then a bright flash and it was over. They were still pinky in pinky. People were talking.

"Hey, maybe he's not so bad after all." Someone called.

"Yeah, if Sasuke likes him."

"Nah, he's still a demon."

"I agree."

Some people were changing, while others stayed blinded in stupidity.

Once they let go of each others pinky, they walked away from each other, best friends and worst enemies.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Iruka, Kakashi. Please have a seat."

The third smiled happily at the two shinobi in his office. They were both scared by his behavior. For one, the Hokage only smiled like that when he had something sneaky planned. Then the fact that he had Anbu blocking the windows and the door was even more frightening.

"Uh…yes lord Hokage?" Iruka trembled.

"Now, now, be patient. We have one more guest coming today."

Kakashi and Iruka glance at each other, wondering who the unlucky person was. They sat in silence, the Third just smiling at them with his eyes closed. Kakashi finally decided to break the silence.

"Um, Lord Hokage-sama, may I ask, what business is this?"

"You be patient too Kakashi. You will find out soon enough."

They both sweat drop. Then a knock at the door was heard.

"Ah, there's our third companion now. Enter."

The Anbu in front of the door opened it.

"Shikaku Nara, it's good to see you could make it."

"Yeah, after you sent twenty Anbu storming into the house to bring me here. Luckily they weren't a match for Yoshino but five managed to escape and bring me here."

He took a seat next to Iruka. When he saw the look on the Hokage's face, he got uneasy as well.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like what you're about to tell us."

"Don't worry, it's not that bad. I have a mission for you three. It should be fairly simple for you."

"Define fairly simple." Shikaku mumbled.

He ignored his comment and continued.

"From tonight to tomorrow night, you three will be taking three genin away from the village for a final evaluation."

"Final evaluation?" Iruka asked.

"Yes. And it's based on your roster Iruka."

He picked up a folder and handed it to them.

"Uchiha Sasuke, Uzamaki Naruto, and Nara Shikamaru will be evaluated for their full potentials."

"But why us lord Hokage?" Kakashi asked.

"I looked through all of your files and could find no better people to have for this mission. Iruka, you are the closest person to Naruto, and know just as much about him as I do. Kakashi, you have the skills that Sasuke need, and information on his blood line. As for Shikamaru, I thought who better to teach him than his own father."

"What a drag." Shikaku called leaning back in the chair.

"I agree Hokage-sama. Why do these three need another evaluation? They all showed excellent prowess at the genin testing." Iruka asked.

"That is true. They were the top three in your class, but also the laziest. As I see it, they all have hidden potential that needs to be realized. That's why, I expect you all to participate willingly, and treat this as a B-rank survival mission."

"Sir, they haven't even been in training for a week. Are you sure a B-rank survival mission isn't too dangerous?" Kakashi was still looking over the folder, and seeing the stats for the three didn't think it was such a good idea.

"Kakashi, you yourself have seen what Naruto and Sasuke are capable of today at the training ground. You should no more than anyone that they have hidden potential."

"I guess you're right, but I think a C-rank would be more fitting."

"No. By making the mission B-rank, I'm already making it easy for them. It stays B-rank and that's final. As for you three, I expect to see some improvements in the three. You will be leaving very soon, so get ready. I will send for them immediately. Dismissed."


	7. Infiltration, Execution, and Realization

-1_I don't own Naruto, yadda yadda, It would be different, yadda yadda, no gay Naruto, yadda yadda. Most of you have seen this plenty of times, so on to the story!_

Chapter 7: Infiltration, Execution, and Realization

"Troublesome…"

Shikamaru, Naruto, and Sasuke were all awaiting the arrival of their sensei's at the Eastern gate. Shikamaru leaned on a tree with his arms folded, Naruto sat cross legged on the ground next to him , and Sasuke sat in the tree resting. All three wondered what was going on, but the Hokage only smiled in their faces and said they would enjoy the mission. At first Naruto was excited about receiving a B-rank mission, but upon learning that he wasn't to know what it was began to get suspicious.

"I think the old man is hiding something. There's no way this is a normal mission."

"I agree with the dobe. They would have told us, at least one detail."

"It's obvious that it isn't a normal mission. But whatever it is, we definitely won't enjoy it."

All three sigh in unison.

"I wonder who our instructors are." Naruto said.

"I'd say people who know us. He did say there would be three of them as well. If I had to guess, I'd say Iruka-sensei, for you Naruto, my dad, since Kurenai-sensei hasn't gotten to know us too well yet, and Hatake Kakashi for you Sasuke."

"Why Kakashi-sensei? He hasn't gotten to know us that well either." He called from in the tree.

"There's no one else I can think of that's worked with you besides Iruka-sensei. If I'm right about him going with Naruto, that only leaves Kakashi."

"That's some hell of a guess, I'm proud of you." Shikaku called, appearing along with Kakashi and Iruka.

Naruto was shocked to see the three appear, just because of the fact that Shikamaru had guessed one hundred percent correctly. He could tell that Shikamaru was much smarter than he had initially thought.

"Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, what's the deal? The Hokage didn't tell us what the mission was."

"We know Naruto, that's because it's B-rank confidential." Iruka answered.

"What's that?"

"We can't explain here. We leave now, so we'll explain on the way."

After checking for final preparations, they all venture away from the village. Once they were a considerable distance away from the village, Kakashi called a halt to the group and they landed in a clearing.

Naruto was anxious, having finally started his first real mission, and now wanted to know, "What is this mission!"

"Calm down, Naruto. We'll explain once Shikaku has done a perimeter check."

Naruto turned around and noticed Shikaku squatting and holding a hand sign.

"Shikamaru, help me out will ya."

"Tch, whatever."

Shikamaru squatted back to back with his father and held the same hand sign. Then their shadows began to wriggle.

"Shadow search jutsu." Shikamaru called.

"Multi shadow search jutsu!" Shikaku called.

Shikamaru's shadow began to form up into the air. Then it took his shape and appearance until it became a perfect clone. Shikaku did the same, only creating six clones. Then the clones ran out into the bushes.

"Why are you using chakra if you only made one clone, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked.

"Quiet Naruto, let them concentrate." Iruka said.

A few minutes later and their shadows retracted back to normal.

"Okay, now can you tell me?"

Shikaku leaned an arm on Shikamaru's head. "Sure kid. We use those clones so we can avoid unnecessary danger such as an ambush. The clone is much stronger than a kage bunshin or water clone. It can take substantial amounts of damage. However, we can't move while using them. Our consciousness is sent into the clone, or in my case into all six of them. That way, we can be in complete control at anytime."

"Alright! Can you show me how to do it?" He pleadingly asked.

"Sorry Naruto, but that's a clan specialty." Shikamaru lazily called, pushing his father away.

"So, all clear?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah."

"Now, onto the mission." Iruka said getting in close.

"Listen up you three. We have information that the next town over has been occupied by bandit ninja who stole some documents containing the third Hokage's most deadly secrets of Konoha. If anyone would have found out, it would have made Konoha an easy target, and trust is a very hard thing to have now a days. That's why we needed to discuss this in private. Your jobs is to infiltrate the town, and abstract the documents. However, we need you to be discreet about it."

Iruka paused, and looked at Sasuke who was staring at the ground.

"What's wrong Sasuke?"

"How exactly do you expect us to find a certain type of documents in a town? If it's over run by bandits, then there's no way for us to get it unnoticed."

"That's why you three will be posing as bandits. You three will go in undercover and try to dig up as much info on the documents and the motives of the group. That's where we come in. We will be watching the whole time in case something goes wrong."

"Why exactly aren't you three coming as well?" Shikamaru called.

"They already have us down. They know that the Third sent ninja, and they're expecting either Jounin or Chunin. That's why we needed genin with good stealth skills." Shikaku answered his son.

"Stealth skills?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes. You are very slick and passive Sasuke, making you easy to slip by unnoticed. Shikamaru is nonchalant, so no one would suspect him anyway. Besides, he's quiet as a mouse around the house, and catches me off guard a lot."

"What about me?" Naruto piped up forcing Shikaku to continue.

"Settle down. You Naruto, are very fast. Plus your flexibility can help get you in and out of tight places."

They all pause for a second. Then Kakashi turned to Shikaku.

"Have you been reading my Ichi Ichi paradise book?"

"You know what I meant Kakashi. It was just a mix in words."

"Enough. Now listen you three. This mission is very dangerous and you can't afford to blow your cover. What you need to know about the bandits is they show no mercy. Their leader is a man by the name of Mitsiomi Nabuka. However, we don't know if eh will have the documents or not. If he doesn't then there are two other people who may have them."

"Iruka's right about one thing, they show no mercy. About Nabuka being the leader, I'm not so sure. The chick seemed to be pulling the strings to me." Shikaku stated.

"Maybe because she's the only thing you were really paying attention to, and I doubt Yoshino will take kindly to that when we tell her." Kakashi came to Iruka's defense, who graciously thanked him for the save. Shikaku on the other hand had placed himself by a tree, away from the group sulking.

"Stop getting off subject. Who are the other two people?" Naruto was getting agitated.

"Nani Aiko and the demon Botai."

"He's someone you need to watch out for. They call him the demon because he took out an entire anbu attack force alone." Kakashi explained.

"I could have sworn that Botai was killed." Shikamaru thought out loud.

"That's what we want people to believe so they won't worry."

"So you give people a sense of false security?" Sasuke called. "Pitiful."

"What now Sasuke?"

"…Nothing…"

After that, Kakashi unraveled a scroll that contained three brown uniforms and suspender jeans.

"Seriously? These look almost as bad as the tights Rock Lee and Gai wear. This is gonna be a drag…" Shikamaru mumbled.

"Oh come on, for bandits they wear crappy ass clothes." Naruto called trying to put them on.

"Those are the leg parts dobe."

"Shut it teme, I know what I'm doing!" He growled, trying to force a leg over his head.

All three instructors watched a little disappointed. None of them were showing the finesse that top ranked academy students usually did. Nor were they showing any potential at being genin, besides the intricate questions they've sent their instructors way. Once all three were dressed, they were giving codenames.

"Sasuke, your code name is Sasuno." Kakashi told him.

"For you Shikamaru, Shinoske."

Naruto giddily stared at Iruka for his name.

"Come on Iruka-sensei what's my code name?"

"Hmm…how about…Virgion?"

Naruto glared at Iruka. "That's not funny."

"Well what do you want?"

He thought about it for a second. "Kyu."

All three adults present winced at the name. Shikaku, being the only one of them who didn't know of what transpired between Naruto and Mizuki stood and tried to change the subject.

"Look, let's move on-"

"No. If that's what you really want Naruto." Iruka said with a frown on his face.

Naruto nodded after hearing the fox chuckling in his head. He would ask why later and decided to focus on the current mission.

"Alright, now that you have your codenames, it's time for the final part. Sasuke, Naruto, since you two are known well throughout at least ten villages around Konoha, you will have to henge into different people." Kakashi finally explained.

"I hope that you two are good at it."

"Why are me and the dobe known but not Shikamaru?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuke, you're the last Uchiha in Konoha. Not only that, but it's no secret that you're also a prodigy." Kakashi explained with pride.

"And me?" Naruto asked but already knew the answer. Sad how his best friend was known for something good, and he for the exact opposite.

They all remained silent for a few minutes before Shikaku decided to explain.

"Who doesn't know the one person who's played a prank on the third hokage more than twenty times a week." He called laughing.

Sasuke and Shikamaru believed the reason, however, some doubt lingered. That didn't really seem like such an important thing to be known for. Naruto, himself took the news as, don't let anyone else know. Feeling uncomfortable with the new subject as well, Shikaku decided to change it once more.

"Alright, now about your henges."

"Already on it." They called in unison, forming hand signs.

They disappeared in two puffs of smoke. In their place stood two distinctly different people. In Sasuke's place stood a boy with long black hair down to his thighs. The lower end of his hair was tied in a red and white ribbon, subtly indicating the Uchiha colors. His face held a sharper chisel and instead of relaying his usual careless glare, gave a full alert look. His eyes were dark blue. All of his hair was away from his face, letting every detail show.

In the place of Naruto, something unexpected occurred. A boy with thick dark red hair smirked at those around him. The dark whisker like marks on his cheeks were gone and his eyes were a tinted orange. Just as Sasuke, his face held a sharper sculpt, making him look at least 16, although his height said otherwise. His hair was spiked and pointed back, long enough to reach his mid back. He had one long bang on the right side of his face. They all noticed that he had one small orange diamond stud in his right ear.

"So?" They called sounding like two completely different people.

"Impressive. Hell, they're so good, you can actually use them as second alias'." Iruka complimented.

"Not quiet. Although it is an amazing henge, and you even managed to change your voices, you haven't changed your chakra signatures at all. If the enemy knew your true identity, this would all be for naught."

Kakashi was right. Almost everything about them was changed except for height and chakra.

"That's alright though. You're just genin, so we didn't expect that. We didn't even expect this."

"It feels like we're doing spy missions not infiltration." Sasuke complained in a crisp tone that sounded like mix between his voice and Shino's.

"All the same. You have to be serious about this. The entire village depends on the success of this mission. There's no room for mistakes."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As tiring as it was, he actually enjoyed the walk to Hokage tower. It was more peaceful than leaping from building to building to get strait to his office, in which many jounin had been doing nowadays. As he reached the door to the tower, he sighed. Should he really go through with it? Why not? He bet the people who attacked Naruto didn't think twice about what they were doing. He pushed all doubts away and continued on into the tower.

All around personnel were trying to do paper work the Hokage himself neglected to do. He sighed at the many papers flying through the air and walked by. Once in front of the Hokage's office he thought of a way to explain his situation to him, however, he heard a voice on the other side of the door.

"Come in Inoichi."

He was startled at the Third's voice. He hesitantly opened the door and looked in. The Third had a stern look on his face. Inoichi sighed once more and slowly entered the room.

"How did you know it was me Hokage-sama?"

"It is really complicated to hide your chakra signature when something is troubling you ,eh, Inoichi?"

He looked away.

"No doubt, I expect you're going to tell me what it is?"

His gaze didn't shift. The Third sat in silence, waiting for Inoichi to continue. Finally, Inoichi lifted his gaze from the chair next to him and faced the Hokage.

"Lord Hokage, what I'm about to tell you will be utterly outrageous, I understand, so I will explain everything from the beginning."

"Go on."

"Naruto has been coming to the flower shop often, since he and Ino have become friends, and over the past few visits, he and I have developed a somewhat close relationship." He paused, seeing if the Hokage was following.

"He…told me of things villagers have done to him-"

"Oh, that…"

"You knew?"

"Yes. I have tried many of times to capture the villagers that destroy Naruto's possessions and more."

"…That's not it Hokage. A few weeks back…Naruto was…raped. By several villagers."

The Third's eyes flew open. He stood and grabbed his jacket.

"Uh-lord Hokage…where are you going?"

"Come Inoichi, we are going to the hospital."

Inoichi didn't have a clue what the Third was doing and followed as he was told. He wondered if it was a good idea to go to the Third about what he wanted to do. He had no doubt the Hokage would probably try to stop him, or even scold him for the thought. They walked towards the hospital, the Hokage moving quickly, which surprised Inoichi. As soon as they were inside the hospital, the Third rose his hand.

At first, there was a line in front of the main desk, however when the people saw the Third raise his hand, they instantly dispersed. Inoichi had enough experience to understand that the Hokage meant business when he did that. So they walked towards the desk, the woman behind it cowering under the ki the Hokage was emitting. He looked down at the woman who hastily greeted him.

"Ko-konichiwa Lord Hokage-sama. Wha-what brings you here today."

Instead of returning the woman's greeting, he looked her right in the eye. Leaning forward until he was only inches from her face, he growled.

"Pull up the medical history for Naruto Uzamaki from the last two months."

The woman almost died from the Hokage's voice and instantly did as he instructed. She was typing quickly, making a few errors. However, after a while she faced the Hokage and the fear on her face was evident that something was wrong.

"Si-sir…there are no medical records for Naruto Uzamaki at all for the past three years."

Even Inoichi took a few steps back after the woman spoke.

'No records for three years? So even the hospital has been hurting him…' Inoichi thought.

The Hokage, on his part, had already had enough. He held his hand out, looking at the intercom phone. The woman handed it to him, quickly pulling her hand back as if he had tried to bite it off. He held the phone to his ear and then cleared his throat.

"EVERY NURSE AND DOCTOR THAT HAS EVER TREATED NARUTO UZAMAKI IN THE PAST THREE YEARS, REPORT TO THE MAIN DESK IMMEDIATELY!"

The booming scream of the Hokage rang out like a roar from the Kyubi. Everything grew silent and still. Then doctors and nurses began to walk into the main lobby, all looking scared out of their asses. Inoichi hated to be them at that moment. He waited, wondering what the Hokage was doing.

"Ye-yes Hokage, sir?" One doctor asked.

"You all have treated Naruto? Why, shall I ask, is there not more of you? Naruto has been to this facility more than anyone else in the village, and as far as I'm concerned, every doctor here should have treated him at some point in time."

No one said anything. The truth was, no one ever wanted to treat him. They thought exactly what everyone else had. Those who did treat him were either forced by Iruka, or some doctor who actually did care for the blonde, if there were any.

"Fine. All of you line up now. We will start with you."

One by one, the Hokage began interrogating them. The first one was the man who had spoken first.

"When was the last time you treated Naruto Uzamaki?"

"I-I only treated him once sir. Two years ago."

"And why aren't there any records of any medical attention to him in the main files?"

"I…I don't know. I-I swear, I made a report sir. Honest!"

"What did Naruto come in for?" Inoichi asked.

"Severe spinal injury from countless blows to his back with a blunt object. He was in for several weeks."

The woman sitting at the desk called again.

"Lord Hokage, I found something. It's the history of deleted files and all of it belongs to Uzamaki. However, these files are only from one year ago. No one made a report at all before last year."

"Arigatou." He said to the woman. However, he turned towards the first doctor who was shaking in his loafers.

"So you lied to me. You never made a report."

"I…I did! I swear on my children!"

The Hokage growled and put his hands together, preparing to do a hand sign.

"No lord Hokage!" A voice at the entrance to the hospital called.

A man with a black bandana tied around his head and a scarred face stood, holding a small black leather bag.

"Ibiki, what are you doing here?"

"I come here to escort injured criminals back to prison. However, I couldn't help but overhear the situation with Uzamaki. As far as I know, not filing a report on a severely injured patient is illegal and punishable by law. Do not worry Hokage, just call the order and their gone. I'm also the village executioner."

Inoichi couldn't help but smirk. It would have been illegal for him to do anything, but Ibiki had the right to do anything dealing with such matters.

"First, we will learn the full story. Everyone who has had Naruto as a patient in the two years before now, stand on the wall to the right. You are all under arrest."

Only eight people walked to the wall. That left three doctors and two nurses standing in front of the Hokage.

"Which of you have worked on Naruto in the past month?"

The question Inoichi had been waiting for.

A doctor stepped forward.

"What was Naruto in for."

"He…he had several stab wounds, a fractured rib, and a minor concussion."

"Is that all?"

"Yeh…yes sir."

"Ibiki."

Ibiki went in his bag and pulled out a small curved kunai. In one swift turn, the doctor fell to the ground, throat open and spewing. Now everyone was sure that the Hokage was one hundred percent serious. Another nurse stepped forward.

"I…I worked with him and the Uzamaki boy was also raped sir. He also had various wounds to his back and abdominal. His lower intestines were highly infected and we had to operate. I…I was the only one who operated so the surgery took long, but it was a success."

The woman at the desk called the notion true as she looked through the nurses file. For some reason, she had began to work quickly for the nurse, and seemed to had gotten scared when she stepped forward.

"Why didn't you make a complete report?"

"I…I wasn't supposed to operate. I'm only a second class nurse. If I would have put it as a complete report, I would have been fired."

"I understand. As of now, you are a first class, level A surgeon."

"Arigatou Hokage-sama."

"Now, the last thing I want to know is who deleted the files in the first place."

When no one answered, the nurse who was just promoted answered for them.

"All of them sir. It took everyone who worked with him to cover up, because they were planning a murder. The next operation that was supposed to be performed on Naruto was going to be sabotaged."

The doctors on the wall turned to look at her.

"Ms. Aika, be quiet!" A doctor said.

One glance at Ibiki, and the man was down. The Hokage waved his hand and every doctor on the wall was executed swiftly. The woman turned from the scene crying.

"Forgive me lord Hokage for not coming to you sooner."

"It is alright. You have atoned for not doing so by telling us what was going on. You, what is your name?"

He asked the woman at the front desk.

"Naniko Aika, her little sister."

"Fine. The Aika family shall be rewarded greatly for your help here. You too Ibiki, thank you."

"No problem, just doing what I do best."

"There is one more thing, Lord Hokage."

The nurse Aika spoke. She went over to her sister and guided her through a security file.

After several printouts, she pulled up the names of the people whose DNA matched those of the ones who raped Naruto. Inoichi took them.

"Lord Hokage, may I please-"

"Ibiki." The Third interrupted.

"Hai. Yamanaka Inoichi, as of today, you are now a B-rank leaf village executioner. You are limited to domestic disputes, and urban crisis. Have fun." Ibiki chuckled handing him a curved kunai.

It resembled a medical kunai but was more like a scythe. Before Inoichi left, the elder Aika spoke again.

"I…I heard of a fire at the Uzamaki residence. I think I may have a lead on to who the culprit behind the whole thing was."

Inoichi turned again, wanting to add one more person to his list.

"Who?"

"I don't know exactly who, but the person I heard from was Mizuki-san."

"Mizuki…" The Hokage growled. He turned to Ibiki who started laughing.

"What do you know. That's just the criminal I was escorting to prison. Looks like a little more interrogation is in order. Care to join us Inoichi?"

"No, I don't want those bastards who hurt Naruto to live any longer than I let them. If you find out who set fire to his apartment, tell me and I'll be on that just as fast."

Ibiki nodded and Inoichi left. The Third was already walking to Mizuki's room, and the Aika sisters were helping the entire time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was late. Very late. She could only hope that by it being late, her father would here her out with a not so much cleared head. After asking several Hyuga if where he was, she learned he was in the court garden. She had already tucked Hinabi in to sleep, and now had her own business to take care of. Once in the garden, she saw her father in a Jyuken stance, panting and facing a thick tree with large dents in it.

"Father." She said as she bowed on her knees.

"Hinata, come here." He said not paying attention.

She stood confused and walked to him. Before she could ask why he called her, he pulled her into a tight hug.

"Forgive my rash decisions. I am only looking out for the well being of the clan. No, for you and Hinabi. I don't want to see you hurt."

"Fa-father…I-I."

He released her. "This is about the Uzamaki child, is it not?"

She nodded, mouth agape at the affection her father had just shown her.

"I understand that you think I am doing it because of spite, but I am not. I have not met the child and I wish to see if he is a demon or not for myself."

"Father what's gotten into you? You never care like this…or ever talk so much."

He smiled and laughed at his daughters words. She chuckled too, looking down. He sat down on the grass, and she did the same. After sitting in silence for several minutes, Hiashi touched Hinata's cheek.

"I am not cold hearted Hinata. I had to reflect on what you said. All of these years I have learned to hate that child because of the demon inside of him. I have forced myself, for your sake, to see that he is not the demon. He is the carrier. I have been over this countless times in my head, and I have to realize that you are growng up. If he is truly what you wish for then I will not stand in your way. Besides, your mother would scold me day in and day out if she were here. What I want you to know is that there are plenty of other people out there…preferably Hyuga."

"Father. You were doing good."

"I'm just saying, keep an open mind."

Hinata leaned on her father's shoulder. She didn't have to explain anything. Her father had come to an answer all on his own. Or had he? Had the thoughts of her mother actually persuade him to change?

"One more thing Hinata."

"Yes father?"

"If you are free tomorrow, I want you to…shadow tail Hinabi."

She moved away from her father.

"Wh-what?"

He sighed. "Hinabi is in the academy, and she is scheduled to return home at 3:30 exactly as you know. For the past few weeks, she has been coming home three and four hours late. I want to know exactly what she is doing."

"Bu-but…that's spying!"

"So? She is Eight years old, she needs no privacy."

"Father, she is still a girl! Why don't you ask her yourself?"

He turned away, but not before Hinata caught a flush of pink spread across his face.

"I…I'm afraid of the answer."

Hinata's eyes widened.

"No…no! Father, she's only eight! She wouldn't be doing _that!_"

"I don't know for sure Hinata. The way I've seen her looking at boys now a days is really disturbing, and not how a princess should be acting."

"What about me?"

"You're smart and too shy to try anything so I'm not worried about you."

"Wow, blunt much?" She said crossing her arms.

"Seriously Hinata. I do not want you nor Hinabi to get side tracked by such ridiculousness. If Hinabi is seeing a boy, I just want to be notified. I want you two to have freedom, but there is a limit."

He dismissed Hinata.

'Hinabi…with a boy? I never would have guessed…wait a minute! Then that means she got a boyfriend before me! What the-'

She mumbled to herself as she entered the room they shared. She glared at Hinabi before laying down.

'I'll follow Hinabi, but for my own reasons. Just a…worried sister thing.'

She told herself as she fell asleep.


	8. Before the Showdown

-1_What to say…what to say…what to say? No one can here me anyway. Heh, and I bet no one was paying enough attention to realize I spelled here instead of hear. Hah, got you! On to the story._

Chapter 8: Before the showdown

"Naruto, once we're in make sure you find a place where we can meet on occasions." Shikamaru said carrying two buckets of water.

Naruto grunted while doing the same and replied, "Yeah, I got it."

Sasuke, walking behind the two but still carrying water, asked in annoyance, "Why exactly are we carrying these buckets of water Shikamaru?"

"Just in case they decide to question us for why we were outside the village."

"Thinking before we even get in. I can tell that you're a now it all."

"Go to hell Uchiha."

"Get bent Nara."

"Shut it you two. Stop using your real names!" Naruto called, already tired of the bickering.

Having been focused on not spilling the buckets, and taking it as being an extra part in training, Naruto was much more calm than normal. He had been observing his surroundings, and had realized that several bandits were around the area. He wanted to activate the Deltaigon to see into the village, but he decided against it, because it would be a huge and unnecessary waste of chakra. He sighed, realizing that so much was happening in a short day. He had just came back from his first official training session with his team and now he was on a B-rank secret mission.

"Hey, dobe, watch it!" Sasuke called, snapping Naruto from his thoughts.

He looked up in time to see a low tree branch, but that's it. He didn't have time to stop himself and walked right into it, falling to his back and spilling the water all over himself. Sasuke burst into a fit of laughter while Shikamaru stoically turned and mumbled his ever so famous, "Troublesome."

Naruto stood and grimaced at his now wet uniform. As if it didn't look bad enough. He picked up the empty buckets and kept going, silent and daring the other two to make a comment on it, which was smart because Sasuke had been holding back a remark for a long time.

After Naruto's incident, they arrived at the small village minutes later. It wasn't what they expected at all. Subtle would have been over stated. People wearing the exact same uniform as the three were walking around in what appeared to be groups in the military. Not one single person seemed to be normal.

"What the hell? How can someone not notice this?" Naruto asked.

"It's called prisoners. No doubt, anyone who's come here has either been locked up or killed. But this is a little too obvious."

"Hey you three! Get in here!" A large man at the head of a platoon called. He wore the same uniform, but had an emblem resembling a falcon and panther fighting on his chest.

They walked over, Shikamaru and Sasuke still carrying the buckets of water and Naruto still wet.

"What were you three doing outside the village?" He asked.

"We were getting some extra training." Shikamaru called.

"And what happened to him?"

"The klutz walked into a tree." Sasuke said, holding back another laugh.

"You ass." Naruto called back, resisting the urge to dump the buckets Shikamaru had onto him.

"Alright. Well, it's getting late and all personnel under seventeen needs to go to the bunks. Sign in with your platoon captain first, he may assign you a nightshift."

They all nodded. He took the water and sent them on their way.

"Alright, so everyone under seventeen has a curfew. Something must be going on that they're not allowed to see." Naruto stated.

"That, or it's a way to keep under aged hostages from escaping." Shikamaru called. He kneeled and did several hand signs.

"While the overgrown lug was talking, I spotted a man I saw in one of the books at the academy."

"Don't tell me. It was-"

"The demon Botai." Shikamaru finished Sasuke's words.

He began to put chakra into his shadow, but did nothing to move it or mold it. He stood and beckoned for them to follow.

"Look, we want to finish this mission as quick as possible, so we're going to be up all night." He said, entering a small wooden building with the word bunk on it.

Inside, four beds sat in the four corners of the building. A night table sat next to each one and a trunk in front of them. Nothing else was in the cabin. Sasuke walked over to the closest bed and plopped down on it, putting is hands behind his head, finding much difficulty due to the amount of hair he now possessed.

"Remind me never to have long hair again. How bothersome."

"That's my line. Troublesome Uchiha." He called sitting on the bed opposite Sasuke's.

"Shinoske, names!" Naruto reminded him, taking the one vertical to Sasuke's.

"So what did you do outside Shinoske?"

"I created a shadow scope."

"Come again?" Naruto asked dumbfounded.

"A shadow scope is a small shadow that observes everything in my seeing area at that point in time. It's like a small black dot. I was looking at the building in which Botai went in, so anything that transpires there between now and three hours will be recorded. All I have to do is go back that spot and get the scope."

"I get it. It's like a mini camcorder right?"

"Exactly."

Sasuke sat up in his bed and turned to Naruto.

"Na…Kyu, didn't Shinoske say check for something."

"Huh? Oh yeah. But we're supposed to be bunking. How do you know they'll let us out?"

"Time for you to start your infiltration now isn't it?" Shikamaru called with a smirk, and taking the same position Sasuke was just in, but with much less effort.

"No fair, you planned this!" Naruto whined.

"No I didn't. I'm improvising."

"I'll improvise my foot up your ass!" He called back.

"Just get to it dobe." Sasuke called, following Shikamaru's suit.

He grumbled once more and got up from the bunk. He headed towards the door.

"Oh, and don't blow our cover."

"Shut it Shinoske."

He walked out and looked left and right. The moon sat high in the sky, but many people were still out. In a small turn, he was on the side of his bunk.

'I'll walk behind the bunks, that way I can get farther.'

As soon as he reached the back of the bunks he jumped to the front. He didn't wait for the three sleeping pit bulls behind the bunk to awaken. He wanted to keep an arm.

'Gulp. Maybe the front isn't so bad after all.'

Leaping onto his bunk house, he noticed pit bulls behind every bunk. They were serious about not letting anyone escape without being noticed. He scanned the whole village. It was very small. There were only nine buildings, including the one he was standing on. Three other buldings appeared to be bunk houses as well. One building was long, and he took it as a small market building. Two buildings were identical and had machines running behind them. He figured one was for manufacturing and the other for milling. The eighth building Naruto was one hundred percent sure was a pharmacy. Not because of intuition, but because of the giant Pharmacy sign hanging on it crookedly. The last building, the one Botai had entered, could only be something like a Town Hall. It was the biggest and longest of the buildings, and the most logical place to keep prisoners.

'It doesn't look like anyone's used that pharmacy in a while. Maybe that would be a good place.'

He dropped down and began to move quickly, but subtly. He had made it halfway to the pharmacy before someone caught him.

"Hey, you! What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be bunked!"

He turned to see the same man that had stopped him, Shikamaru, and Sasuke early.

"I…uh…I got assigned a….night shift."

"Doing what?" He called walking over after dismissing his platoon.

"I…have to guard the…pharmacy?"

The man stared at Naruto for a second. After contemplating whether or not to believe him he continued. "What's your name?"

"Kyu."

"Who's your platoon captain?"

'Shit…what do I say, what do I say…'

"Nani Aiko."

The man seemed to wince at the name. He took a step back and Naruto could have sworn the man was shaking.

"La…Lady Aiko is your…platoon captain?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

"I…I feel sorry for you…it must be tough."

"Eh?"

He looked around. Then he leaned in and whispered. "Is it true that she cut of your balls and fed them to her put saber wolf?"

Naruto's face drained of its color for several reasons. "I think I'm going to be sick." He said holding his stomach.

"Well?" The man asked eagerly.

"No…that guy is…uh…dead."

"Aw man…but that means it's not a legend. Well, I have to file a report on the prisoners so see ya later…hopefully."

Naruto stopped him, trying his best to ignore his last comment but finding extreme difficulty.

"Uh…where are the prisoners again?"

"The market of course…why?"

"I thought that we were supposed to be moving them to the town hall today."

"Of course not. Where'd you get that from."

"Just a random person. Sorry."

"Alright. Later red head."

After that Naruto sighed, wiped his forward, and held back vomit after thinking of what the man said.

'That was way too close…'

Checking to make sure no one else would stop hi, he hastily made his way to the pharmacy. He looked at the double doors, which were made of metal and wondered exactly what was inside. He saw that the windows were boarded up, but not enough so you couldn't see inside. He peeked into the building, seeing lots of dust and over turned shelves. Medical equipment was scattered all over the place.

'I was right, they don't use this place.'

He closed his eyes and made a hand sign. He focused his chakra towards the building. He called in the lowest whisper he could manage. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

A shadow clone appeared inside of the building. Naruto decided mission accomplished and whispered to clone to dispel itself after a thorough search of the building. He wiped his forward after using more chakra while still sustaining a transformation. Plus the clone was transformed. He thought he was using as much chakra as he did the first time he used the Deltaigon.

"I've had enough of your excuses. You've failed one too many times."

Naruto heard a female voice yell. He turned around and saw a tall woman with silver hair down her back standing over a man who was cowering on the ground. She wore a black and red sequent dress that was split on the sides. She had hills on as well. Naruto would have thought it was a normal woman if he would have met her anywhere else, however the symbol on the back of the dress said otherwise. The same symbol of a falcon fighting a panther.

"For…forgive me Lady Aiko! Ple-"

The man was cut off in mid sentence. Naruto's eyes dilated. He trembled at what he had just seen. The fact that he hadn't even seen the woman move struck fear into him. The man's mouth was wide open. Then the top part of his head, from half of his mouth and up, slid to the ground next to him. The woman kicked the corpse back, sending it skidding across the ground leaving a trail of blood and brains. The only way Naruto knew what happened was because the ninja wire surrounding the woman shined in the moon light. She twirled it around her body before snapping it like a whip.

'But…that wire is as thin as air! It should be impossible to move it like that.'

His heart skipped a beat as the woman's hateful glare darted his way. He froze, thinking that if he didn't move she wouldn't find him, though he knew it was futile. The first step she took echoed in his ears, and everyone that followed seemed like missiles crashing down all around.

"What's wrong, you look like you've seen a ghost." She said, somehow right in front of him. She spoke in a less violent tone. In honesty, it was seductive, not frightening, however, the image of what just happened still flashed into Naruto's mind.

"I…I'm…"

"Aw, nervous? Don't tell me this is your first time." She said wrapping an arm around his neck. She pulled him slightly closer, rubbing her breast against his cheek very slightly.

His mind clouded. He had no clue what was going on anymore.

"What's your name big boy?" She spoke low, in his ear. The warmth of her breath sent a shudder through Naruto's body.

"N…Kyu…"

"Hello Kyu, how'd you like to be my new…plaything? My last one just broke."

He nodded slowly. His head began to spin. Before he knew it he had wrapped his arms around the woman. She had completely embraced him as well.

"So smooth." She said rubbing his cheeks. She pulled his face up to look her in the eyes. Her eyes were glowing, or so he thought. They were bright blue, and sucking him in. She tasted her prize. A small kiss on his lips. Then she licked the tip of his ear. Her every touch was enough to send Naruto spiraling. Even when she bit the tip of his ear, he didn't flinch. A small drip of blood ran down his ear but she licked it before it could get too far.

"Now you're truly mine."

He collapsed into her arms. She frowned.

"Aw was that too much?"

She looked down into his semi unconscious face.

"Maybe I didn't need to use so much pheromone."

She moaned as she began to drip. The boy tasted much better than she expected and at first all she was looking for was another tool. She called over a random person.

"Take him back to his bunk. His tag says bunk 2." Her seductive tone was gone and the violent woman she portrayed earlier returned.

She practically tossed Naruto at the man and was about to go her own way.

"Oh and clean up that garbage will ya." She said indicating the half headed man.

"Wa…wait…" She turned. He was more conscious than she originally thought.

"You're one tough kid." She dismissed the man who had took Naruto, who darted away quickly.

Naruto sat on the grown, groggily trying to focus on the face of the woman standing in front of him. She smiled and sat down right next to him.

"I didn't think anyone would have complete consciousness after a full dose of that jutsu."

'Jutsu? She uses pheromones in her jutsu?'

She turned his face to look her right in the eyes. This time her eyes weren't glowing. They were just a beautiful light blue. She kissed him again.

"Now what do you want? You asked me to wait."

"I…just want to be by you."

She smiled, seeing that the jutsu was still working.

"Alright."

His dizziness began to fade. He looked at the woman next to him. She was gorgeous, obviously. But she had an air about her that seemed to make his core freeze. He knew who the woman was the moment he saw her, and now he had some insight on her jutsu. Now he had to figure a way to beat it…but the risk was being around her long enough for her to beat him. It was a double edged sword and spur of the moment.

"Why'd you kill that man?" He asked for no reason, just to lighten the mood.

She smiled, as if she found some strong enjoyment on the subject.

"He wasn't…enough."

He cocked his head at her confused. She laughed at his innocence.

"You know…he couldn't give me exactly what I wanted." She said rubbing his thigh.

He began to get uncomfortable and realized that she wasn't releasing pheromones. That's why he could resist. However, it didn't take long for her to begin the jutsu. He slowly began to lose all thoughts about getting away from her.

"Do you think you can give me what I want?"

He winced as she gripped his manhood painfully hard.

"Well?" She whispered.

His eyes began to close as she slid her hand up towards the side of his suspenders. She put her hand inside and slid it back towards his hardening.

"I…ye…"

"You're different kid. Feel what you do to me." She guided his hand to her face. Then to her chest. She positioned her self over him on her knees. Then she made him rub his hand down her stomach and across her thighs.

"This is all yours now." She slowly pulled his hand up beneath the dress.

"Nani, that's enough." A deep voice called, startling both Nani and Naruto.

He came completely back to his senses. She hastily stood up and looked at the man. He wore a red and black sleeveless vest and black pants. He had the same symbol on his back and a black bandana. The woman slapped the man.

"I told you never to bother me when I'm playing with my toys."

"Oh grow up. You were playing where everyone had a full show." He said as several people were still watching.

"I'll do whatever I want Mitsiomi, so piss off."

She stormed off and smiled as she looked back and winked at Naruto. He blushed and felt a little violated. The blush left his face when the man named Mitsiomi looked at him.

"Go to your bunk." He called.

Naruto left with no hesitation. He entered his bunk and found both Shikamaru and Sasuke sleep.

'So much for being up all night.' He sighed and laid down in his own bed.

'Feels like my head is about to split in two.'

"**Sorry but things are about to get worse."**

The fox chuckled as it forcefully pulled Naruto inside of his mind.

"**I will make this quick. You are doing fine so far. I will not help you on this mission, because I see the truth behind it already."**

'What…what do you mean the truth behind it?'

All the fox did was laugh. **"The real reason I called you here is because I have unlocked more of the memory from your birth. See, I'm not just sitting in here. I'm working for you as well."**

'I guess…I want to see it.'

"**Sorry kit, not now. You have to focus on your mission. Afterwards we will take the time discuss it. Forgive me."**

'Yeah, whatever.'

Naruto passed out before the fox could even send him away. The fox glared at him before wrapping a tail around him and falling asleep as well.

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'Come on Inoichi, you've killed before. What's so hard about doing it to him?'

Inoichi glared into the house of the first victim on his list. He was sitting on a couch holding a baby and his wife had just went back upstairs. Inoichi looked at the names next to the DNA on the paper. He was at the right house. The man put the baby in a crib and turned off the lights, leaving a night light on. Then he walked out of the house. Inoichi pressed himself against the side of the building as the man began to walk away.

'Now or never…' He decided and began following the man.

The man walked towards the western part of the village. After a few quick stops, he arrived at his destination. Inoichi was surprised to see another women open the door, holding another baby. He growled when the man took the baby and kissed it just as he did the other.

'Is this what we shinobi are protecting? No good citizens?'

He didn't wait any longer. The thought that finally broke him was the reminder of why he was tailing the man in the first place. He jumped to the top of the house and entered into the master bed room window. What he saw enraged him even more.

"Get off her you pathetic piece of shit!" He called as the man was in bed with the woman.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing in here!"

The woman squealed covering herself. Inoichi ignored it, and the man's pleads. He grabbed him by the front of his shirt and tossed him out the window. He turned to the woman.

"He has another woman and child."

She grew quiet immediately. Inoichi leapt out the window after the man who was stumbling, trying to run down the road. He drew two kunai both with ropes tied to their ends. In one toss, the kunai pierced through the mans calfs, making him fall to the ground again. He began to pull the ropes, slowly lifting the man into the air upside down. After he tied the ropes to a tree, he walked over to the hanging man.

"Wha…what do you want from me?"

"I want you to beg." Inoichi said more sadistically than he ever sounded.

"What did I do to you?" The man stuttered and cried.

"Not me. Naruto Uzamaki."

"Bu…but he's a m-m-monster. Why d-do you care?"

Inoichi took the curved kunai in hand.

"One, he's not a monster, he's a human being." He dug the kunai into the man's abs.

"Two, he's only a child."

He began to twirl the kunai around the man's torso.

"Three, because he is my daughters first true love."

He pulled in a slanted upward curve out of the mans body.

"Four, because he's my son."

He turned away from the man, slashing his throat as he did. The marks on his torso, the symbol of the hidden leaf village. Inoichi cut the body down, letting it slam into the pool of blood that had formed after his work. After a little observation, he saw people watching.

"I am an official Konohagakure Leaf Village Executioner. You are to forget what you have seen here or be held accountable for suspicion of corruption."

The people watching dispersed, except for the woman who the man was having an affair with. She was on her knees, just staring at the scene, and gasping for air. Inoichi turned from the woman. Two Anbu landed next to him.

"Sir, we are here to clean up this mess. Please continue your mission. The Hokage wishes to speak with you afterwards."

"Acknowledged." Inoichi called and left the scene. One down, two to go.

After that, he knew the last two wouldn't be nearly as hard. All he had to do was remember something unforgettable.

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The next morning, Ino awoke to the sound of the shower. She looked at the small clock on the side of her bed and wondered why her father was in the shower at 5:30. She yawned and crawled out of bed. The patter of water hitting the ground was evident, and the smell of the special soap they made from extracts of flower lingered in the air. However, their was another smell as well. She smelled blood. Lots of blood. She knocked on the bathroom door.

"Daddy are you okay? You're not bleeding or anything are you?"

"Ino…uh, no. Of course not. Why do you ask?"

"It stinks in here, bad. Like someone was killed in here or something."

"No, it's probably just the garbage. Why don't you take it out."

"…Er…fine…" She was worried about him. She knew when something was wrong. She just hoped that he hadn't done what she think he did.

'The garbage doesn't smell that bad. What's he up to? Oh daddy, I hope you didn't do anything reckless.'

She took out the trash and when she came back in, Inoichi was fully dressed. The house didn't smell like blood at all anymore. Instead, the strong smell of different flower sprays hovered in the air. He had sprayed the scent away.

"Daddy, where were you last night?"

"I…had to talk to the Hokage dear."

"About what?"

"About Naruto's apartment incident…"

She slowly forgot all about the blood. "What did he tell you?"

"We…**may** know the person who set Naruto's apartment on fire."

"Who? Did you catch the person?"

"I can't tell you who Ino. It's confidential right now and no, we haven't caught the person yet."

She groaned. She would have dealt her own punishment to the person who burned down Naruto's apartment. Inoichi turned from his daughter. How could he tell her that the person who fit Mizuki's description of the one who burned down Naruto's apartment was Sasuke.

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"Hinata, wake up! Get up Hinata!" She stirred in bed. Then pulled the covers above her head.

Then she felt a hard shove and was forced out of her bed. She groaned and looked up at her father from the floor, eyes full of resentment.

"It's only 9:30 _father, _and if I can recall, school doesn't let out for hours, so why in Kami's name are you waking me up now!!!"

Hiashi winced at the ferocity in her voice, and the way she said father. He had completely forgotten Hinata was a she devil if woken up too early. Needless to say, she was not a morning person.

"Uh…I…just wanted to tell you I love you."

"That's some hell of a way to do it. You must not love yourself as much, because if you wake me again, I will personally make sure that I have the Hyuga clan much sooner than intended." She spat as she crawled back into bed. However, the thought that she would regret that didn't arise until after her father had chokingly departed from the room.

She was intending on getting up to go apologize, but someone else had another plan. Before she could even sit up, two buckets full of water were thrown onto her, drenching her and the bed completely. Hiashi stood in front of her with two servant Hyugas.

"Thank you, that is all."

"Daddy!! Why would you do that?!"

"You will learn to be thoughtful in the mornings, even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming out of bed. Now get dressed, you have a visitor."

'A visitor? This early?'

She quickly washed, and rushed down stairs, forgetting to put on her jacket.

"Oh, hello Kurenai-sensei! What brings you here this early?"

"Hinata, good to see you. _All_ of you."

Hinata was confused at her sensei's words and looked down. When she realized she had done nothing to hide her true cleavage size, she blushed fiercely and darted back into the compound. Minutes later she returned with her trademark winter jacket.

"So, how big are you Hinata?" Kurenai asked smirking.

Hinata blushed even more and turned from her sensei. Kurenai smiled sneakily and snuck up behind her. She wrapped her hands around Hinata and gripped both of her breast.

"AH! Ku-Kurenai-sensei, wh-what are you doiiiinnnnggg???"

"Aha! Firm, plump, and voluptuous. You're a c-cup, and at your age."

She released Hinata, who slowly melted to the ground, disoriented from her sensei's sudden…raunchy…behavior.

"By the time you hit sixteen you'll be as big as me."

Hinata looked away. "I…I don't know if I want to be **that** big…"

Kurenai scowled. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you saying I'm too big?"

"Uh…no! Of course not sensei! I was just…"

She stopped as Kurenai began to laugh. "I'm just messing around Hinata. Lighten up will ya. Besides, I just stopped by to tell you some good and bad news."

"Good news first please."

"Very well. I have found out where Naruto lives and his usual habits so I made a list of what you should do if you want to get with him. I even planned a little something myself, if you aren't handling yourself good enough."

She ignored her sensei's lack of confidence in her and asked for the bad news.

"The bad news is, he's not in the village right now, so you're gonna have to wait a little longer before we could do anything. He's on a mission and I don't know when he'll be back."

"Oh…okay. Thank you Kurenai-sensei."

"Anytime Hinata. Now, since today is your day off, you should get some rest. I want you at one hundred percent tomorrow morning, got that?"

"Yes mam!"

After another goodbye, Kurenai left. Hinata had greatly started trusting Kurenai. Even if their meetings were always short, they were always lively and eventful. Kurnai always made sure of that. She smile to herself as she was about to turn to go back into the Hyuga compound.

"Ehem. Hinata, Hinabi should be getting out of school now." Hiashi said as Hinata prepared to go back to sleep.

"Wha-what? But I didn't talk to Kurenai-sensei that long!"

"No, but after the first time I awoke you, I let you sleep for another five hours. Now, get to it."

_I know I know, too short. And still moving too slow. I stopped it right here for several reasons. One reason is so I can finish several things next chapter so the real story won't overlap with so many other things. Special shout out to KingKakashi! Thank you and I can't thank you enough for being the only person to actually review every chapter. Lol. Also, to my anonymous friend Solo. Glad you like the story since I can't reply to your review. _

_Anyone reading this story who hasn't already, check out KingKakashi's story: **Naruto vs. Sasuke: The Aftermath.** It's already in the glorious stages and is actually the best Naruto story I've read on this site so far. Check it out, you'll be happy you did. _


	9. The black flame of Iniquity lives

-1_Hey, is anyone going to the anime convention in Illinois in the spring? If you are I hope to see you there, cause I'm going for the first time YAY! Now, on to the conclusion of the filler chapters._

Chapter 9: The black flame of iniquity lives

Hinata couldn't lie to herself; she knew she was as nosy as her father when it came down to Hinabi. However, she never thought about following her. That's why she wondered why the hell did she agree to this in the first place. She sat outside her old school, in which she had just graduated a few days ago. She sighed and laid back in the tree she occupied. It wasn't a good hiding place, but maybe the dozens of kids around would hinder Hinabi's senses. Then the bell rang. She looked down as right away children began to rush out of the building and disperse in all different directions.

'I wonder where Iruka-sensei is. Shouldn't he be out here scolding someone by now?'

That's when she saw her. Her little sister had darted around to the side of the building. She saw her leap over the wall behind the school building. Hinata wasted no time and jumped from the tree. She darted towards the wall and jumped up just in time to see Hinabi rushing around another corner. She sighed and jumped on a fence. Her flexibility and balance made it easy for her to run full speed on the narrow wood. She had feared that she would lose sight of Hinabi if she went too slow. Once again, she saw Hinabi hop a fence and dart across someone's lawn until she leapt into a tree, and went over the village wall.

'She's leaving the village! That's dangerous!'

Now Hinata followed more hastily. Before she could jump over the wall she heard Hinabi's voice.

"I brought it. Is this enough?"

"Sure is. Thanks Hinabi-chan!"

Hinata peered over from her spot on the wall to see who Hinabi was talking to. However she leaned forward a bit too much. All she could do was gulp as she felt her bottom flip over her head and the rest of her come crashing threw several tree branches. She landed in a shrub, hard on her hip. She groaned and hoped that Hinabi wouldn't be upset with her. What was she thinking? She wouldn't let her after she had just took a five story fall from the village wall just to try and protect her…and spy on her secret life. To her surprise, Hinabi and the mystery person were no where in sight.

"Oh no, did they leave away from the village?" She wondered. With no other choice she activated the Byakugon. Peering in every direction, she caught the form of Hinabi running back through the village. She mentally cussed Hinabi's speed.

It was times like this she thanked her father for being so tough in training as she easily caught up to Hinabi. When she saw the person Hinabi was running with, she almost tripped and fell again. She skidded to a halt as Hinabi and the boy turned down a street and walked into a street carnival. Hinata didn't know whether to be emotional or protective about the fact that Hinabi was actually out on a date. She pushed the thought away and decided to get close enough to hear the two talking.

"Why'd we meet outside the village Konohamaru?"

"Because Ebisu-baka doesn't think I'll go outside the village. He never thought to check once!"

He flashed a toothy grin and gave a thumbs up making Hinabi giggle. She grabbed his hand and pulled him away, forcing Hinata to follow again.

'She's been seeing Konohamaru…the third's honorable grandson!'

She was confused and upset. After all, her eight year old sister had found a boyfriend before she did. Plus she was going out behind their back.

"Hinabi, let's play this one!" He called loudly, standing at a booth. (Ball toss booth: Knock down the glued glass bottles.)

Hinabi agreed and picked up a ball. Konohamaru paid for the game. Hinata was intrigued by the two and wondered how they attracted each other. Hinabi held her arm back and threw the ball. Ironically, it hit the glass bottles, but being glued, did nothing. The clerk smirked. Hinabi groaned and pouted.

"Don't worry, you can try again." Konohamaru called after seeing his girlfriend frown.

"No, you don't have to." Hinabi replied.

"It's alright. I told you I don't ever want to see you frown."

This drew a blush from both Hyuga girls. Konohamaru paid for another game. Hinabi reared back her arm, and threw with all her might. The glass shattered. Hinata was surprised at what she saw, but didn't have time to think about it. The ball bounced off the back of the booth and soared into the air. As she was absorbed in what had just happened, she didn't see the ball coming and was whacked right in the forehead. She stumbled back dizzily and fell, eyes spinning. The only thing that brought her back to her senses was when Konohamaru shouted for joy.

"There you go Hinabi! You did it!"

She, in return, was jumping up and down and jumped right into his arms. Hinata ignored the pulsing red mark on her forehead and smiled. She had seen the entire thing. When Hinabi threw the ball, Konohamaru did a hand sign, somehow putting chakra behind the ball and making it soar extremely fast. On the other hand, as a result, Hinata would now need an ice pack.

"Come on Konohamaru, let's go to the park!"

Hinabi once again grabbed his hand and drug him away.

From the busy and loud carnival to the subtle and quiet park. Hinata watched from a distance as her little sister and the Hokage's grandson walked hand in hand eating ice cream. She, frustratingly, was almost eaten like ice cream, as she was almost seen by the two and jumped out of their eye sight. However her jump was right into a pack of wild dogs. After that things got worse as she watched them from in a tree, consequently, a little too close to a wasp nest. After a little dip in the small lake in the park to avoid getting stung, she was now limping behind the two, drenched. Her anger had far out weighed all emotions she had felt seeing Konohamaru be a flat out gentleman to her little sister. When the two sat on a bench, she decided to confront them. She dragged her soggy shoes towards them. They looked up and smiled at her.

"Hinabi-"

"Hey Nee-chan. I was wondering when you were going to stop following us and just come out."

Hinata's eye brow twitched. "You…knew…I was…following you?"

Now Hinabi and Konohamaru looked at each other and gulped. "Uh…heh heh. Maybe."

Twenty minutes later…

Hiashi had seen Hinata enter the compound but didn't say anything. He waited a while, thinking that she probably couldn't find Hinabi and was saddened. Finally, his curiosity got the best of him and he made his way to her room. Before he could enter, he heard her laughing.

"Hinata, is everything alright?" He asked entering. He saw Hinata leaning on her window sill looking outside into the back yard.

"Yes father, everything is just fine."

After her tone, he had a feeling something bad had befallen someone, and crossed the room to her. He looked outside and confirmed his suspicion. Hinabi and Konohamaru were tied back to back with a rope and suspended off the ground from the big tree in their yard. They both seemed to be dripping wet and several wild dogs were barking up at the two morsels out of reach. Hiashi was happy that Hinata wasn't acting like the timid, shy girl which she really was, but also scared as well. He knew the exact reason for her behavior that day.

"Hinata, I promise in the name of the Hyuga fathers, that I will **never** wake you early again."

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The sun rays rush into the room like the headlights of a car speeding pass. As soon they hit his eyes, he groggily wakes. Stumbling out of bed, he grabs the covers off of Sasuke, and then does the same to Naruto.

"Five more minutes." He groans, turning away.

"You idiot, you two lost your transformations last night, you need to take a soldier pill."

Upon hearing this Naruto darted up. He looked down and saw his scrawny body and his numerous scars. He felt his hair, short again and as bright as the sun. Looking over to Sasuke, he saw that he held his original appearance.

"Shit, I hope no one came in last night."

"If they did we're dead." Shikamaru called, getting dressed.

He left out, to make sure that no one else was around, or would be coming to the bunk. His head throbbed with the fact that he had fallen asleep when he clearly said that they would be up all night. Now wasn't the time to have regrets though. He had to at least get a clue as to their objective; The Hidden Leaf Village stolen documents.

'Maybe the shadow scope picked up something.' After retrieving the shadow scope, he went back towards his cabin to relay everything he had just learned.

"Shinoske, what happened? You look upset."

"We need to get to work now. A lot of the platoons left earlier so we have less enemy nin to fight. The scope caught Botai, and the other two all going into the town hall."

"That's good. Last night, I found out we could meet in the old pharmacy. It's abandoned and the closest building to the town hall."

"Good work Kyu. Now, we can't all just walk in there though. We'll have to give it time intervals. Who should go first?"

"I will. It'll give me more time to check out the place since the dobe already knows about it." Sasuke replied.

"Alright. I'll go last in case we need an excuse."

"Wait, there's one more thing!" Naruto called, remembering the previous nights events.

"The woman, that Aiko whatserface. She made me go loopy for her."

"She's the enemy Kyu, you can't fall in love on this mission and especially with the enemy."

"No…I mean she did it with a jutsu. She said she used pheromone's in her jutsu. I think it's a specialty of her clan or something."

Shikamaru thought about this for a second.

'Strange. Dad gave me some pills that hinder you're attraction to the opposite sex before we came here. Did he know about her jutsu already?'

Realizing this, Shikamaru went in his bag and brought out a container of blue round pills.

"What are those?" Sasuke asked.

"This are reverse instinct pills. They make it so you aren't as influenced by the opposite sex as you normally would be while on a mission. Dad gave them to me right before we left to come here." 'No wonder he gets into it with mom all the time.' He sweat dropped at his last thought.

"That's convenient." Sasuke snorted.

'The damn Uchiha may have a point.'

"Well, come on! Let's get this over with already. I have a couple of promises I don't want to break."

"Alright. Sasuno, you head over to the pharmacy, but don't let anyone notice you got it."

"Sure, fearless leader."

Shikamaru scowled at him but continued.

"Me and Kyu are going to see if we can find any info on the documents then he'll meet you there. After a while I'll go and we can plan on how we're going to execute this whole thing."

Sasuke and Naruto nod, and Sasuke leaves after Shikamaru hands him a few reverse instinct pills. They wait another ten minutes before heading out themselves. The town was a lot emptier than the night before. There were only a few people out and walking around. No full platoon seemed to be around, which gave the three an upper hand.

"Kyu, make sure no one is around the pharmacy and then head in there with Sasuno. I'm going to see if they let everyone into the town hall."

"Got it."

After dismissing Naruto, he got down to his real objective. Something was off in the town. Where would so many people be at such a time. He was sure they would need more protection than this in case of an enemy attack. Reasoning with himself wouldn't help, because a lot of things weren't starting to make since. Instead of going to the town hall, he made his way over to the market. The glass was too dirty to see through, but there were small cracks. He did a shadow scope jutsu and put the scope into the small crack. He gasped when he finally realized the truth behind the mission.

"My, my, we have some sneaky leaf shinobi don't we?"

Shikamaru's heart sank. He knew that he had made one mistake too many. He turned and found the person he was dreading to meet. The demon Botai, along with Nani Aiko, and Mitsiomi Nabuka stood facing him.

'Shit, not good.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What's taking Shinoske so long. He should have been here by now." Naruto complained pacing back and forth inside the dark pharmacy.

"He knows what he's doing. Just be patient and relax will you."

Naruto sighed and plopped down on the ground. He rubbed his spiky red hair and began to let his mind wander from the mission.

'I wonder if Ino likes red haired boys…'

He felt a warm feeling in the pit of stomach growing. But the warm feeling was slowly replaced with a cold sinking feeling.

'I…wonder what she would say if she found out what was about to happen last night…'

His moment of happiness was instantly drowned and he decided maybe the mission was the best thing to think about at that moment.

"Kyu…you hear that?"

Naruto quieted and listened. There was a small ticking sound, as if a pen was repeatedly hitting the surface of something. Then without warning, the door to the pharmacy was blown open.

"Don't you know it's rude not to open the door for a lady?" Aiko called, walking sexily into the room.

"Dammit, we're caught." Sasuke growled.

Mitsiomi walked in behind her. "Of course you are. So many flares in chakra from you wasn't too hard to find. Next time try to suppress it."

"There won't be a next time." The demon Botai called tossing Shikamaru into the pharmacy.

Naruto and Sasuke groaned. As of that moment, the mission was a failure. They were caught and there was nothing they could do about it. At least, that's what they thought.

"Kyu, Sasuno, our covers blown. We have to engage the enemy and retrieve those documents no matter what." Shikamaru said, voice darker than usual.

This brought a smile on both Naruto and Sasuke's face. All the recon and stealth crap was annoying. The butt kicking part was going to be easy.

"Aw, you really want to fight me?" Aiko asked in a seductive tone.

"This…this is it! The jutsu!" Naruto stammered.

"You told them about our secret Kyu-kun? That's disappointing. And I really wanted to be with you. But I'll just take all of you instead. Won't you feel jealous?"

Her last words clicked something in Naruto's brain. His eyes faded their color to a toneless black. He faced Shikamaru and Sasuke.

"She's mine. You can't have her." He said in a plain monotone.

"Kyu, what the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuno, take the pill. Give one to Kyu." Shikamaru ordered, popping one into his own mouth.

"Hunh…fine. You two don't want to be my toys either? I still have my Kyu-kun." She began to moan. "Get rid of them Kyu my darling. I'm warm, and it's all for you. Do it quickly."

"Yes my love." Naruto mindlessly stated. With a speed neither Sasuke nor Shikamaru knew he had, he drew a kunai and jumped on top of Sasuke. Before he could plunge the kunai, Shikamaru had performed a shadow possession, stopping his arm no more than an inch from Sasuke's throat.

"What the hell's wrong with him?"

"He's completely under my control. You two stopped it before it could have it's full effect on yourselves, but he was under my rose thorn jutsu for far too long."

"Sasuno…the pill…now!"

Sasuke hesitated, but after seeing Naruto's hand shake, as if the kunai could pierce at any moment, put him back up to pace. He grabbed a reverse instinct pill and shoved it into Naruto's mouth, forcing him to swallow. A few seconds later, the fiery orange of the henge's eyes began to return. He dropped the kunai to the side and slowly stood up.

"What…happened?" He asked, holding his head.

"She was controlling you." Sasuke replied, rubbing his throat thankful that a hole was not in it.

Aiko was frowning, but then soon smiled. She licked her finger.

"Kyu-dear. What are you doing? I asked you to kill them."

"Wha-aaaaahhh!!!"

He dropped to his knees.

"Dobe, what's the matter?" Sasuke asked startled, seeing Naruto holding the tip of his ear. Sasuke took a step back as he noticed it glowing beneath his hand.

"What did you do to him?" Shikamaru growled.

"All I did was inject some of my pheromone into his bloodstream. It was painless. I think he actually enjoyed. Don't you want your friend to be happy?"

"Aiko, you're pushing it." Mitsiomi said.

"Shut up. I will tell you only once more. Do not bother me while I am playing with my toys."

Shikamaru smiled as he figured out what he was trying to for the longest.

'This is a long shot, so I better make sure.'

"Toys? A normal woman you're age would consider a dildo over thirteen year old boys don't ya think?" He called.

No one saw the remark coming. Aiko stared holes into Shikamaru. He kept her gaze, and tried his hardest not to falter under her deathly pupils. Sasuke was also looking, wondering what the hell Shikamaru was doing.

"Kyu, end them. Kill the smart ass first." Aiko roared.

'Bingo. I knew it.' He thought, feeling relieved that the most scariest staring contest of his life was over.

"Yes my love." Naruto once again replied like a zombie. He picked up the kunai again and rushed at Shikamaru. He didn't get a chance to perform a hand sign, and narrowly dodged out the way as Naruto wildly swung the kunai at him. The kunai cut his cheek.

'Damn too close. Got to get Sasuke into motion, but he still looks confused.'

He jumped back as Naruto slashed again. Now he had time to perform another shadow possession justu.

"Sasuno, attack Aiko!" He yelled, snapping Sasuke out of his shock.

"Right." He said and ran at the three still standing in the door way.

He knew that a rush wouldn't work and threw shuriken. Shikamaru thought perfect as he saw the shuriken fly and the three jump out the way.

"Keep her moving!" He called again, releasing his hold on Naruto. Sasuke saw Naruto groggily shaking his head.

'I see. She can only control Naruto when she isn't moving. Just like Shikamaru's shadow search jutsu.'

Right away, he spun and threw more shuriken in Aiko's direction. She gasped and darted out the way just in time. This gave Naruto time to collect his bearings. He looked around and knew what was going on. Time to fight.

"Kyu, get out of here. You have to stay away from that Aiko woman!" Shikamaru called, hurling kunai at the woman as well.

"And you forget about us." Mitisiomi said, standing right over Shikamaru.

'Wh-what? I didn't even see him move!' Was all he thought before he felt a strong punch to his chest that sent him crashing through a wall and into the storage area of the pharmacy.

Naruto had taken Shikamaru's advice and left the fight. Botai had followed, leaving Sasuke alone with two homicidal ninja.

"Shi…Shinoske? You alright?"

"I've felt better after taking a fist to the chest. Chakra enhanced non the less." He groaned standing at the large hole in the wall, blood in the corner of his mouth.

"You should be unconscious." Mitsiomi said.

"Yeah, well, I'm still standing. Better luck next time."

"Mitsiomi, I'm going after Kyu-kun. I take it you can handle these two broken toys?"

"Whatever." He said carelessly.

"Sorry, I can't let you do that!" Shikamaru said using the shadow possession once more. Mitsiomi grunted and leapt to the side, thinking the attack was for him.

"Predictable!" Shikamaru called. His shadow snaked its way to Aika quickly, but she leapt back again and again. Mitsiomi was heading towards him until a strong kick to the side of his head sent him crashing out the side of the building.

"I'll handle him Shinoske."

"Great, leave me with the insane one. Not only that, but I have to fight the only girl. What a drag."

With that, Sasuke disappeared out the hole in the side of the building.

Aiko smiled seductively. "Mm. Looks like it's just the two of us handsome. You may not be able to best my Kyu-kun, but you'll have to do."

She held her hand out to the side, letting Shikamaru see the ninja thread she had been wearing around her body for the whole time. She twirled her hand, making the thread spin around her, shining in the sunlight.

"Come on. Are you a good toy, or are you defective?"

'Dammit…I'm almost out of chakra. I've only got enough for one more shadow possession. I guess it's time I put that training with Lee to use…'

"Well, are you gonna sit there looking like a scared little shit, or are you going to play with me?" She said, spinning the thread faster until Shikamaru couldn't see it anymore.

"COME ON! YOU'RE BORING ME!!"

She slung her hand forward, and Shikamaru instantly knew that the thread was on a direct collision course with a vital part of his body. He jumped, spreading his legs wide as the thread narrowly missed between his legs. She frowned when a combination of blood and genital juice didn't spray the floor.

"You're fast. I like that. But I'm fast too. You won't resist me. You **can't** resist me!"

She pulled the thread back and began to spin it like a windmill as she rushed at Shikamaru.

'Shit, no time to rest. Got to think of something now.'

He ducked under the obvious slash she did with the thread, letting it cut slashes into the walls on either sides of him, however, she continued by swinging her body around and landing a kick right into Shikamaru's shoulder. He was sent flying back into the storage area, a line of blood flying from out of his shoulder. He winced once he hit the ground and held his shoulder in pain.

'What the fuck is this woman?' She still wore heels, and they were, as Shikamaru noticed, as sharp as a saber.

'That could be a down fall.'

"You're the fastest woman I've seen in high heels. I guess the devil really does wear prada."

"Yes, the devil does. Now, come dance with the devil." She said, twirling the thread above her head.

As soon as she brought it down, he rolled out the way. The thread left a long crack in the ground. Shikmaru instantly jammed a kunai into it. Then he turned and flung several kunai at Aiko.

"Pathetic, that won't work." She said trying to draw the thread back but finding difficulty. Shikamaru smirked as he saw panic rise in her face.

"Wha-what is this?"

Shikamru casually stood.

"You've fallen completely into my trap. He began to spin and throw kunai in random directions.

"What are you, insane?" She hissed, still panicking.

He still held his smile.

"Humph. To start off with, tying that whole thread around your body was careless. If the wire was ever caught, you wouldn't be able to use it, plus your attack range would be shortened by however far that wire is from you."

He pointed to the kunai he had shoved into the crack she made. The thread was stuck beneath the kunai, in the ground.

"That was all I needed to do to stop you. To take care of the rest of your movement, I just filled the room with exploding tags, in every direction that you could move."

Her eyes dilated as she just realized the dozens of exploding tags hanging from ninja wire all over the room.

"In case that didn't work, I made sure that when you dodged the first few kunai, you landed right into a crack that was already in the floor. Your heels are stuck by the way."

She cried out in agony. "Damn you! How could you have thought this out?"

"I get it from my dad."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke had walked out of the pharmacy and was sure that he had already done some damage to this Mitsiomi guy. However, he was just waiting for his arrival.

"So, I heard your name is Sasuno. You went too far kid. And you're underestimating me, I can already see it in your face."

"Really? And I suppose that you think I'm not even going to be worth the effort?"

Mitsiomi smirked. This let Sasuke know the battle had begun, as right away, both of them moved faster than the eye could see and had slammed their forearms together, creating a large pulse.

"Good. It seems you won't die so easily after all." Mitsiomi called with a wide smile on his face.

They jumped back from each other and began to run, both never taking their eyes off of their opponent. Mitsiomi threw kunai at Sasuke who easily deflected them. After that, Mitsiomi rushed right for Sasuke.

"I'll kill you with one hit!" He growled slinging his arm down in a guillotine swing.

Sasuke jumped back, but wasn't expecting Mitsiomi to move fast as well and appeared right behind him, hitting him back towards his original position. Sasuke flipped and landed on his feet.

'He's way faster than me. I've never seen anyone move that fast…'

"Perfect. Now I can kill you."

He did hand signs and held the last one. "My ultimate technique. Be proud, I only do this to those who I think deserve a worthy death."

Sparks began to surround his arms and chest. He drew a fist back and all the sparks began to surge around that one arm.

"**Hakku Daiseishou!"** (In several Languages: Roaring Thunder Serpent!)

He punched in front of him, sending a wave of electricity soaring towards Sasuke. It was fast, but not fast enough to hit him. He jumped out the way, thinking all that talk, and that was it?

"Disperse!" Mitsiomi yelled. The electricity soared into all the kunai that Mitsiomi had originally thrown. Sasuke's eyes darted around in a panic. It was useless to try to move. He had foolishly let Mitsiomi push him right into the middle of the fallen kunai. The electricity sprayed over Sasuke, trapping him in what appeared to be a lightning cage. Then the sparks began to electrocute him, making him scream at the top of his lungs.

"I would have fought you longer, but we have plans. Farewell."

Mitsiomi turned from Sasuke as the electricity stopped and he dropped to the ground.

"No…It's…not over…"

Sasuke struggled to his feet. Mitsiomi narrowed his eyes at Sasuke.

"How are you still alive?"

Sasuke chuckled. "Don't know…don't care. All I know…is I won't die…by the hands of someone as weak as you…"

He wiped the blood from his mouth.

"Besides. I won't die. I can't die. Not yet. There's still someone who I have to keep a promise to. Someone…that has to die before me."

He flashed through hand signs as well. "I WILL KILL ANYONE WHO STANDS IN MY WAY!!"

He put his fingers to his mouth in a small circle.

'Grand fireball…' Mitsiomi thought.

"**Katon: Goukakyu Tenshi no Jutsu!" **(Grand Fireball-Angel Technique)

Before Mitsiomi could register his words right, Sasuke had flung himself into the fireball. He soared right up to Mitsiomi, and before he struck, slammed a fist into the ground. The ground exploded, sending dust and debris all over the place. Mitsiomi couldn't see. When the dust cleared, Sasuke was gone. Then he felt a strong chakra signature above him. Far in the sky, Sasuke was still covered in fire. The flames blew behind him like wings, as he came crashing down on Mitsiomi. The blast sent Mitsiomi skidding across the ground and smashing right into one of the factories. Upon impact, the factory exploded.

Sasuke breathed heavily. "Damn…made me use…too much chakra." He dropped to his back, looking up at the sky.

'I won't die…not until…you have…'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto had made sure he was far enough away from the pharmacy before turning to see the person following him. Upon looking back, he saw no one. Then he looked forward, just to see his opponent holding Sasuke up by the throat.

"Sas-Sasuno?!"

The demon Botai held a broad sword in his hand and a manic look on his face.

"One down, two to go." He said as he shoved the sword right into Sasuke's stomach, killing him upon impact.

Naruto glared at the sight. His mind reeled until it came to a final conclusion. More blood shed.

He darted at Botai, screaming the whole way. When he struck him, he and Sasuke vanished, and all Naruto heard was his wicked laugh.

'Wait, this is just like before with Sasuke. The fox said it was a…a genjutsu!'

He made a hand sign and called release. All that changed was Botai appearing in front of him. He frowned.

"So you released my genjutsu. Most impressive indeed. But I'm still going to kill you."

The rage Naruto was feeling after seeing the genjutsu hadn't diminished and when he saw it repeat in his mind, he grew angrier.

"Aiko calls you Kyu. So come, Kyu, fight me! Bleed!" He laughed hysterically as he sprinted towards Naruto, blade ready to strike.

The first slash cut Naruto clean across the chest. Then Botai spun around him, slashing him in the back. After another slash to the stomach, Botai kicked him, sending him skidding over the ground.

"What's the matter kid? Can't you even fight?"

Naruto's eyes were closed, the image of Sasuke's death still playing in his mind. Finally he opened them, revealing a darker orange flare in his eyes. His hair seemed to grew a little, deepening in intensity. He stood up bleeding and growling.

"Who the hell do you think I am? I'm not a worthless brat or any body's toy. I'm not a dead last like a certain blonde haired kid I know. I'm not a failure at life. I'm am Kyu. The one and only. And my power matches that of a kage. So your death is inevitable."

It wasn't Naruto speaking. It wasn't the fox speaking either. The black flame that resided in Naruto had taken over Kyu, forcing its dark will over his mind. Naruto was gone, and Kyu was born, in pure iniquity. His eyes slowly began to burn black. What appeared to be black smoke began to seep from the corners of his eyes.

"Deltaigon!" He called. His voice sounded like a mix between a deeper Naruto and an echoed Kyuubi.

Botai flinched when the sudden rise in chakra stabbed into him. A reddish black aura surrounded Kyu, heavily. Everything seemed to stop. He walked to Botai and plunged his hand into him, but did not break flesh. Botai still didn't move. Kyu moved his hand down until he gripped Botai's soul.

'Stop it!' A voice rang out around Kyu.

'_**No! You are weak. You failure, stay out of this. You saw what he planned to do to Sasuke. Let me kill him!"**_

'No! It's not the way! Iruka-sensei told me there is a time to kill, but don't do it unnecessarily. We can take him back to the leaf village.'

'**Naruto is right. Leave this to him.'** The fox said, actually confused at the third entity that seemed to occupy Naruto at that moment.

'…_**Fine. You have things your way this time. Next time, I will take someone's soul. And not even the great Kyuubi will be able to stop me."**_

When Naruto regained control, he dropped to his knees. Whatever power he had just used left him with almost nothing. However, Botai, having almost had his soul sucked out, passed out. He panted.

'What the…that wasn't me…something took over…and it wasn't me. It used the Deltaigon like a master. What's going on?'

"Hey Naruto, you ready to head home?" Shikamaru called in a strained voice, limping towards him, Aiko following and doing the same, seeing as Shikamaru had her in a shadow possession.

"You…you're using our real names." He said in pain.

"Yeah, I know. You want to know what sucks ass Naruto?" Shikamaru said as Sasuke limped over as well.

"This whole mission was a fake."

Both Naruto and Sasuke look at Shikamaru in disbelief.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke said.

Shikamaru released the jutsu over Aiko and sat down, exhausted.

"We've been playing a game set up by none other than dad, Iruka, and Kakashi."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto called.

"**I told you I saw the truth behind this mission already. I could sense that everyone in this village was a bunshin."**

"What? All the people here were clones?" Naruto blurted out.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Shikamaru asked.

"Uh…er…I guessed."

"Well that's almost right. This lady was paid to do this."

"What exactly is this?" Sasuke asked, slowly beginning to get annoyed.

"A B-rank _training_ mission." Mitsiomi said appearing behind him.

"What? But I killed you!" He growled.

Mitsiomi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"No, but that was a good try." Kakashi said, standing in his place.

"Ka-Kakashi-sensei?!"

He looked down to Botai on the ground. "Wow you really did a number on Iruka, Naruto."

"Huh? Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka appeared as Botai disappeared. He was breathing heavily.

"I…don't know what happened…but I guess I went a little too easy on ya."

"Iruka-sensei, I'm sorry! I…I didn't know-"

"It's fine Naruto. You did what you were supposed to. We all got hurt on this mission, and we knew we would. That's why it was B-rank."

"Shikamaru, when did you figure this out?" Sasuke asked.

"The first suspicion of course was the pills my dad gave me. It was way too convenient for her to specialize in attraction, and my dad just so happens to give me pills to counter act that. After that, the shadow scope picked up the whole conversation with Naruto and that other clone. He said that hostages were in the market. Thought they might have been there last night, you guys used up too much chakra to maintain that many clones. That's why there weren't a lot of people here this morning, and why when we all started fighting, everyone else disappeared."

Naruto glanced around, just noticing that they were the only ones in the town.

"When I looked into the market, I caught a quick glimpse of dad trying to make more hostage clones."

"So basically, our cover was blown because of Shikaku?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah. Just like I blew our cover." He stated with remorse.

"Where is Shikaku anyway?"

"I'm here. Once I knew that we were almost done, I went ahead and did the mission report. I have a feeling I won't get a chance to when I get home. Shikamaru won't let me hear the end of this, and Yoshino is going to have his back."

"You're damn straight." Shikamaru added, folding his arms.

"So where does she come in?" Naruto asked, glaring at Nani.

"For starters, my real name is Nani Aika, with an a. You've met my big sisters Naruto-kun. They work at the hospital in the village." She said smiling at him again. It sent a shiver down his spine.

"You're a leaf shinobi? Why haven't I heard of you before?"

"She does stuff like this a lot. She's what you really would call a spy." Shikaku explained.

"I'm the only one in my family that didn't go into medical work. They say I should have, but you see what I can do."

"Yeah, you're one crazy bi-"

"Moving on. This whole exercise was to get you three to grasp your full potentials. What we saw here today is beyond belief. Although the mission could have went smoother, you still completed it. You aren't perfect, and we didn't expect you to be. But you all are a hell of a lot better than we expected."

"So the whole time you were acting?" Naruto asked Aika.

"No, I really wanted to fuck you."

The sinking feeling entered Naruto's stomach again as he remembered Ino.

"Is she coming back to the village with us?" He asked, fearing that if he was around her any longer, he may not be able to control himself, or his pants.

"Sorry Naru-kun, I can't. I'm not supposed to be from any village, so after this, I have to stay away from leaf shinobi for a while."

"But…that's not fair. Don't you miss your friends and family?"

"I have no friends. And my family doesn't really like me. Besides, this comes with being a mercenary."

"A mercenary…" Naruto thought to himself. This was the first time he had met a mercenary. No wonder her power was off the charts.

"Don't worry, when I come back to the village, I'll make sure to wear lace." She winked at Naruto before turning and heading away.

"Good luck Naru-kun. Until we meet again, and I bear your children!"

Shikaku looked away and mumbled, "Lucky bastard."

Kakashi heard and teased. "What's wrong Shikaku? Why are you jealous? You **are** married to a former mercenary."

"Yeah, former, but instead of love, I get pain."

Naruto was trying to grasp so many things at once. His mind began to crumble and recollect. His head began to spin. After a while, all the stress and confusion wore him out, and he completely fainted.

_Yay, the filler chapters are complete! I had that ending in mind and I really didn't want to spoil it for anyone so there you go! That's part of being a writer, doing the unexpected. _

_Once again, thank you KingKakashi! You're reviews are always valuable. _

_Also for my anonymous friend Solo! XD, when are you going to get an account? Can't forget evil frog either. *Wow, that's everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Hopefully this one will have better luck*_

_Enough ranting. Time to begin the continuation of Forever Darkness._


	10. For the sake of his love

-1_Sen no Yoru wo Koete. And now I have exploded in a wave of (Holy Crap, That's a good idea! I'll remember that for about twelve chapters from now!) So, until twelve chapters from now, enjoy the story. (I guess I should give some type of warning for this chapter, so just look at what the story is rated and you'll know what I mean.)_

_Oh, and Aqua Times is all you need to know about the first sentence. Ikito! _

Chapter 10: For the sake of his love

"The village is just up ahead." Iruka said, carrying a tired Naruto on his back. Kakashi did the same for Sasuke, but Shikamaru just walked alongside his father.

"You're pretty tough Shikamaru. I expected you to pass out as well like these two." Kakashi called.

"They used up much more chakra than me. They had to sustain those transformations and fight."

"Heh, you wouldn't have tried anyway you lazy bum." Naruto called groggily from Iruka's back.

They all grew quite when he spoke. He found it strange, because it was the third time they had done it on the way back to the village. Sighing, he closed his eyes and listened to Iruka's heartbeat. It slowly began to vanish as he felt himself being pulled again. Right before he appeared in front of the Kyuubi's cell, he heard Iruka say, "He's sleep again."

"**How are you feeling?"**

"Never better." He said falling to his back.

The fox chuckled and put a tail out through the bars.

"**Grab my tail Naruto."**

"Huh? What for?"

"**Just do it."**

Naruto shrugged and decided he trusted the fox enough. Right before he touched it he stopped.

"You're not going to fart if I pull it are you?"

"**One, do not mock me. I'm not that childish. Two, pull my tail and I'll give you nightmares for the rest of your life."**

Naruto touched the fox's tail and right away felt his chakra flaring. Once he released it, he felt energized.

"Whoa, what just happened?" Naruto asked looking himself up and down.

"**I amped up your own chakra. As of right now, you'll be fighting at full power until you get stronger again."**

"How'd you learn how to do that?"

"**From this memory of yours."**

Naruto's eyes went wide. He had forgotten that the fox had unlocked more of his memory.

"**Pay close attention Naruto. Something's that happen you will need to remember for later."**

Mist covered Naruto, building in density until he couldn't see a thing. Then he felt the floor vanish beneath him, but instead of falling, he gently floated, feeling his body shrink, until it became the size of an infant. The mist began to lift, and he felt himself being carried. When the mist completely cleared, the first thing he saw was the Kyuubi, roaring in anger and pain, still looking scared and being attacked from all sides. Then he saw a strong fire attack come from above the fox and land right in front of him. He was on the ground now.

"Get him out of here! Shaiya, take him!" The voice of the doctor called.

He felt himself being picked up again and more running. He looked down at the doctor, his glasses broken and his leg burned. His body soon joined after as another wave of fire engulfed him, killing him almost instantly. Naruto turned from the scene and began crying.

"Shh. Everything's going to be okay. Don't worry." The caring nurse said.

She sounded true. At least true enough for him want to believe everything was going to be alright. The kyuubi left his view as the nurse rounded a corner. She slowly stopped at the sight in front of her. Hundreds of citizens and shinobi alike, lay torn, burned, and mutilated all over the ground. She slowly took a step forward, the stench of death making Naruto cry again.

"Miss, come with me!" A woman standing on top of one of the buildings called.

"Who…who are you?" The nurse called, slightly turning away to hide Naruto from the woman's sight.

"Hinamare Hyuga, wife to Hiashi Hyuga, and queen ruler of the Hyuga clan. Now come on, we don't have a lot of time."

The woman turned and the nurse started following her. Naruto caught a quick glance at the woman and for a second thought it was Hinata. But then, this was exactly thirteen years ago and Hinata was still probably in the early stage of development. Then it hit him. The woman was Hinata's mother, and according to the time line, she was pregnant with the former. They now leapt from building to building.

"What's your name?" Hinamare asked.

"Shaiya. Shaiya Aika."

The Hyuga queen nodded. The kyuubi roared as what looked like a chakra rope wrapped itself around it's neck and pulled it to the ground. One more ninja landed in front of them. Hinamare stopped and Shaiya once again tried to hide Naruto.

"Kakashi, is that what I think it is?" Hinamare asked looking at the oddly shaped kunai in his hand.

Kakashi, younger and wearing an anbu outfit nodded his head before dropping the kunai. As soon as it touched the ground, a strong wind surrounded the area and in the blink of an eye, a man wearing a long orange cloak with black flames appeared. His hair was blonde and went past his shoulders. As soon as he arrived, all three present bowed before him. Naruto only stared in awe, his eyes shining as the greatest ninja to ever live stood before him. The awe slowly faded as he noticed the greatest ninja bleeding violently from his head and chest.

"Namikaze-dono, I have him but she didn't…we couldn't…"

Although Naruto didn't understand the nurses words, the Fourth did. His eyes seemed to fill with pain, and he cursed into the air. Then, with tears falling of their own will, he touched the Aika woman on her shoulder. His hand began glowing blue as chakra began to enter the woman.

"Thank you Hokage-dono, I was sure I was going to die from chakra exhaustion. But why else have you come?" She asked standing taller than before.

"I need him. There's nothing else I can do."

"Hokage-dono! But…there has to be!" Hinamare pleaded.

"No, Hina-sama. Hiashi is still battling Kyuubi-san, and Kyuubi-san is too hurt to listen as of now. I have no other choice or he will destroy the village, and kill everyone here. Not only that, he will kill himself as well, and then Gama Bunta-sama will have total disdain for this village due to the fact that his best friend is dead."

"But if you do this, then this child will be orph-"

Everything faded again.

The fox knew exactly what was going on and what Naruto was really. However, Naruto was still too naïve to see the truth behind the memory. All he knew is that the doctor who had tried to protect him was killed as well. He also learned that his connection to the Aika family went all the way back to his birth. For some odd reason, he began to get mad.

"The Fourth Hokage chose me. I still don't get it!"

"**Naruto, you don't understand what is going to happen-"**

"Yes I do. He takes me away and seals you in me."

"**That is not all. Fine, if you are so stuck up about this, I will wait to reveal the final part of this memory, even if I do unlock it."**

"What? Why?"

"**I think it would be better if someone you trusts more than me reveals the truth to you. I have all the information I need now, and know exactly what happened to you that day."**

Naruto sighed and sat down with his back against the cage. He stuck his hand in and petted the fox. The fox laid down and began to pour slightly again. Naruto didn't make a comment fearing that he would actually take a bite out of his hand.

"**Naruto, on to more pressing matters. I know you remember what happened while you were training." **

"Yeah! Some crazy aura took over my body."

"**It it is no secret that the others recognized it as well. That is why they are refusing to speak to you. The longer they think about it the more they fear it."**

"What was it?"

"**For a while now I've felt a presence, almost as strong as me, whenever you got angry. Whenever that seal cracked that aura was strong. I think it is the aura cracking the seal and trying to release me, and it is sealed somewhere deeper inside of you."**

"But if it's sealed, then how did it take over?"

"…**I see. The more this seal cracks, the more influence I have over your chakra and morale. This third entity must have the same influence over you but stronger. Naruto, you must find this third entity in the labyrinth of your mind."**

"What? What if I have to fight it?"

"**Good point. You're not strong enough right now…hmm…we will deal with this later. I will see what I can do." **

The fox extended two tails that darted around a corner and out of Naruto's view. After a while of silence, the tails returned, looking burned. One had black flames on it and the other white flames. The black flames were eating at the tails flesh, while the white flame just felt like a cool breeze. The kyuubi shook the flames off of it's tails.

"The black flame…it feels just like the entity that took over."

"**Naruto, you must return. I will deal with this myself."**

He nodded as he felt himself rising rapidly. When he opened his eyes, several people were looking at him. Someone spoke before he could get his self completely settled.

"Get him out of here." Several shuffles and people left the room. Now Naruto was able to see clearly again.

Looking around, he found he was in the Hokage's office. Iruka stood in front of him looking upset, and Shikamaru and his father both looked furious. When he looked back he caught a quick glimpse of the back of Kakashi's head, and the tears slowly rolling down Sasuke's cheek as he was lead away.

"Where are they going? What's wrong with Sasuke?"

The Third looked more upset than anyone else in the room.

"I'll be going as well Hokage-sama."

Inoichi spoke, finally alerting Naruto to his presence. Naruto looked at his father figure and couldn't speak. The rage in his eyes far surpassed the Hokage's, or any villager that had ever attacked Naruto. Before he could ask a question, Inoichi left the room. Shikaku followed behind him.

"Shikamaru, you are dismissed." The Hokage said, diminishing the number of people in the office even more. Shikamaru leveled a glare at the Hokage, who glared back, as if relaying a silent message. The message was received, as he practically ran from the room. Now only Naruto, Iruka, and The Third remained in the room. The door silently shut behind Shikamaru, but the silence of the room was deeper, making the small click sound like it was magnified.

"Lord Hokage…" Iruka said, eyes glossing over as well.

"I know Iruka."

"Know what? What's going? What's the matter with everyone?" Naruto asked, a growing feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.

"Naruto…we will inform you of these matters once they have been settled. Please return to Iruka's house for the time being."

He was far more scared than confused now. What matters? What had happened while he was talking to the fox?

"Naruto…I promise to tell you everything later. Believe it…" Iruka said, staining on the last words.

Naruto grew angry but could do nothing. As he sat there, a hand fell on his shoulder. One of the Anbu had come to escort him out of the building. He pushed the man's hand away and ran out.

'More secrets…they're hiding something else from me now. What the hell's going on?'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke walked alongside Kakashi, looking down. His raven hair hung over the sides of his face, making it so Kakashi couldn't see a trace of flesh. Even when Sasuke looked up for a second, just to make sure he hadn't been walking into anything, was the solemn face shadowed. The tension between the two held them stuck together until they reached their destination. Near the Hokage mountain stairway, a building lay far beyond the path way. It was the Konoha interrogation and holding facility.

"Kakashi-sensei…please believe me. I would never do anything to Naruto…"

"Save it Sasuke. I…believe you." In honesty, he didn't know what to believe.

He walked Sasuke into the building, releasing him into the hands of the Anbu once inside. Several ninja, including Inoichi and Ibiki, took Sasuke into a back room. Kakashi turned to go and was met with the last person he expected to see at that moment.

"Kakashi-sensei…what are they doing with Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

'What in the…did she follow us?'

"Sakura you shouldn't be here. Come on before you get me into trouble." He said pushing her out the door.

"But what about Sasuke-kun?" She cried, trying her best to break the copy nin's grip.

"Let him be Sakura. He's just being…questioned."

"But…"

He had enough of her and drug her away from the building. He was so worked up as well that he didn't have the time or patience to deal with obnoxious fan girls. Sakura on her part had given up trying to see the raven haired boy and was just following her sensei.

"Where are we going Kakashi-sensei?"

The silver haired jonin stopped, realizing he had been storming through the village with no clue into where he wanted to go. He sighed and turned to Sakura.

"Sakura, do you want to get some extra training in?"

"Uh…sure! Thank you Kakashi-sensei!" She smiled at him but he just stared. After a while he focused all his attention on training Sakura, and tried his best to forget all about the situation with Sasuke.

'I wonder what's the deal? He's acting so strange…' Sakura thought. Slowly, her mind drifted to Sasuke. Something important had to be happening if they drug him to the interrogation facility.

"Kakashi, there you are. I've been looking all over for you."

Once again, he sighed, as he didn't feel like being bothered. He had chosen what he wanted to set his mind on, but fate seemed to dislike him at that moment.

"Hello Kurenai-sensei." Sakura called cheerfully, half faking a smile.

"Yes, hello Kurenai. What brings you seeking my presence?" Kakashi asked sarcastically.

"Hello to you both. I just wanted to know if you knew the whereabouts of Naruto Uzamaki? I heard he was on a mission with you and since you returned, I thought he would be with you."

"He should be at Iruka's house, why?"

"One of my student's wanted to meet with him about sparring." She lied, but since it wasn't the reason Kakashi expected, it went unnoticed.

"Naruto…I forgot I was supposed to hang out with him today…" Sakura said mournfully.

"Don't worry, you can hang with him later, I won't have him for long." Kurenai said, thinking the sad tone was because of disappointment.

Sakura shrugged, knowing her reason was because she dreaded the idea in the first place.

"Oh and Kakashi, lighten up will ya? You're always so tense." Kurenai said, giving him a cute smile with her eyes closed.

The scarlet flash across his face was unseen, being covered under his mask. All he did was look away and scratch his cheek.

"Er…yeah…I'll try."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She had followed Kurenai. Upon listening from a building a little distance away, Hinata learned of Naruto's residence and wasted no time in making her way to him. She wanted to get there before her sensei so she could have rights to say that she had courage. Deep down, she believed that she was gutless. She couldn't tell Naruto what she felt, and even now she was pondering on whether to stop and go back, or faint. Reasoning with herself, she felt it safe to stop by and say hi at the least. But then Kurenai would be showing up afterwards, and would force an encounter. The last thing she wanted was for Naruto to think she was spineless, even though it probably was the truth. All the time she spent thinking to her self, she hadn't realized she was already standing in front of Iruka's door.

'Uh…um…what should I say? What will I do…' Her entire face was red.

The effects of being awoken too early had since vanished. She gulped as she began to sweat. She raised her hand, ready to knock. Then the door swung open.

"I'm gonna go back to the Hokage and-"

Naruto stopped and froze when he saw someone standing in front of him with their fist rose. He stared at the statue of a red Hinata and she stared back.

"Uh…Hinata? Are you okay?"

Hinata didn't move. Naruto began to worry…for himself.

"You're strange…" He said about to walk around her until he saw her face turn from red to purple to blue. His eyes widened and he grabbed Hinata by the shoulders.

"Hinata, breathe!" He screamed.

She let out a breath, her face returning to normal, but then filling red again as she realized Naruto was clutching her shoulders and looking her dead in the face.

"What's the matter with you?" Naruto asked nervously, wondering if the girl was mentally ill or something.

"I…I'm sorry Naruto-kun…I just wanted to talk to you again."

"Again?" He thought back, and remembered the night when he first actually spoke to Hinata. It was when she was training at three in the morning.

Hinata was not a morning person, so whenever she planned on training early in the morning, she didn't go to sleep the night before.

"I'm sorry Hinata. I didn't come back and talk to you like I promised…"

"It's fine." She said, looking down.

"So…what did you want to talk to me about now?"

Her gaze darted back to his and she was stomped. All that planning and she still didn't know what to say. After seeing the puzzling look on Naruto's face she decided to make a scheme.

"Can…we hang out today?"

"Uh…wait, I can't! I was supposed to hang out with Sakura today."

"But she's training with Kakashi-san."

"What? They didn't tell me about any training…"

Hinata saw the pain in his eyes and touched his shoulder. She didn't like seeing him upset, and it pained her as well.

"Uh…we could train together…if you'd like."

Naruto looked into her gray eyes, and although they were supposed to be the dullest of colors, her eyes shined with hopefulness and purity. He was drawn into them for a second, before understanding the meaning of her words. They stared at each other for seconds that drifted by slowly, feeling like minutes, and burning through hours. Although it had only been a few seconds, understanding was going through them both that would take centuries to reveal.

"I…I'm sorry. If…you don't want to…" The feeling went away as Hinata removed her hand from Naruto's shoulder and looked down. The small blush on her cheeks didn't go unnoticed to Naruto completely, as he thought she felt embarrassed about asking.

"No, it's perfect. Thank you Hinata! We should go right now!"

Hinata felt a fluttering feeling in her stomach. Either she was spending time with Naruto, or the fact that she hadn't eaten in almost two days was getting to her. Ironically, it was both.

"Um, Naruto-kun. I actually think we should get something to eat first." She said rubbing the back of her head.

For the first time since she arrived at Iruka's house she saw him smile. It made her smile as well.

"Alright Hinata! We can go to Ichiraku's!"

As soon as they walked away, Kurenai walked up. She looked at the two teens and smiled.

'You little sneak. You think I didn't know you were following me? Now it's my turn.' Kurenai thought, and rushed into the trees to begin her pursuit.

They had walked to the ramen shop in complete silence. Mainly because of the fact that Hinata had her head down and was playing with her fingers while Naruto held a big goofy smile on his face thinking of all the ramen he would soon be consuming. Once at their destination, they sat side by side, waiting for someone to come from the back of the stand.

"Sorry for the hold up…oh, hey Naruto! How're you doing?" Ayame asked carrying two menus, but putting them down when she saw Naruto and automatically knew what he would order.

"I'm fine Ayame. Hey where's Teuchi?"

"He's away from the village right now, getting some special herbs and spices."

Ayame saw Hinata sitting quietly next to Naruto and smiled, a small blush creeping over her face.

"Oh Naruto, you didn't tell me you were on a date!"

Naruto blushed as well, but Hinata's face seemed as if it was ablaze. She froze completely again.

'Me and Naruto-kun on a…date?'

"Uh, heh heh, we're not on a date Ayame. We're just eating so we can go train afterwards."

"Aw, you're no fun. Such a pretty girl like her and you aren't even gonna try?"

"Ayame! Besides, Hinata doesn't think of me that way, right Hinata?" He turned to her to see her with her hands on her lap and her eyes barely open. Tears loomed in her eyes but her head was slightly turned away, and her eyes obscured from Naruto's view.

"Uh…Hinata?" Naruto asked, now concerned about his comrade.

Ayame could see Hinata's face and frowned. She instantly saw what was happening and understood that the matter shouldn't be pressed any further.

"I'll get started on the ramen right away Naruto." She said and turned from the two.

"Hinata?"

"I'm fine…forgive me Naruto-kun, I had something in my eye."

He knew it was a lie, but he didn't know why she lied. He wanted to know why she was about to cry. The memory that the fox had showed him popped into his mind, and he remembered how beautiful the Hyuga queen had been. It also reminded him that Hinata was the daughter of said queen and was equally, or even more beautiful. To him at least. Hinata looked at him, some tears still in her eyes, but she smiled. He almost melted.

"Gosh, Hinata. You have a beautiful smile."

Ayame stopped moving for a split second, which went unnoticed by Naruto, but Hinata caught it. She blushed again and wondered what exactly Naruto meant. Just a few seconds ago, he denounced any relationship to the Hyuga princess whatsoever but now he was telling her how beautiful her smile was.

"Naruto-kun…"

They were once again staring into each others eyes. Without realizing it, they had slowly moved closer, their faces only inches apart and slowly getting closer. But then Naruto pulled back, making whatever hope Hinata had shatter into shards around her.

"Hinata…what's going on? We were about to…"

"Naruto-kun…I want to ask you a question?"

"Go ahead…"

"If I told you…I loved you…what would you say?"

Naruto's heart caught in his throat. What would he say? He hadn't thought of the Hyuga heiress like that until that very moment when he remembered her mother. He understood that she probably lost her mother, since he had never seen her. As well as his understanding of her beauty, and her personality just by looking into her eyes. Her eyes…he had seen them countless times growing up, and just finally recognized them. That's why. It was the same girl that he had seen so many times, so many years ago. In the academy, a girl with grayish eyes would always leave him cookies in his desk. Even if she thought he didn't know it was her. As well as the one incident when Naruto was beat up by kids and the same gray eyed girl had come to his aid. The kids beat her up as well, but that didn't stop her from staying by Naruto's side. He cursed himself, wondering why it had taken him so long to realize who the person was. She had been in front of him the entire time, and her emotions had been as clear as day. As clear, and as pure.

"I…"

The delay in his answer was all she needed. She stood and began walking away from the ramen stand.

"Hi-Hinata…where…no, please don't go!"

She stopped. "Naruto-kun…I know it's my fault for taking so long to ask you…if you would go out with me. But I don't want to be hurt…not by you. Anyone but you…so please…if you don't feel anything for me, don't give me pity."

His heart skipped a beat. It's what he had always told people. Don't give him pity, and that's exactly what he was about to give Hinata.

"All this time…I've ignored you for Sakura. Now, even now…there's someone else. Hinata, I'm sorry and I won't give you pity, because I do feel something for you. I don't know what it is because I'm just now understanding things myself. I'm piecing things together one by one…and I've been a fool. But there is something else…that we can't discuss here."

He stood up as well. She looked at him as he walked away. She knew he wanted her to follow but she didn't know if she had the heart for it.

"Go Hinata." Ayame called from the stand, wrapping their ramen for later.

"Yes, do go. This may be a once in a life time chance." Kurenai said dropping down beside her.

"Ku-Kurenai-sensei!?"

"I saw the whole thing, and I think what's about to happen will test exactly how strong you feel for him, and how strong this new found feelings for you are."

Hinata nodded and ran after Naruto.

'No matter what it is, I won't lose this chance!'

She was determined to have the blonde shinobi, but their destination confused her greatly. She slowed to a stop, a few yards from the Yamanaka flower shop. She watched as Naruto disappeared inside.

"Ino-chan…" Naruto said solemnly as he entered the shop.

Ino had been sitting at the counter, half sleep since no one had entered the shop for a few hours. Upon seeing her visitor, her sleepiness went completely away.

"Naru-kun! Welcome back!" She yelled and jumped onto him. However, when he didn't hug her back she released him and looked into his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"Ino-chan…I…I don't want to hurt you…but because of this I don't want to keep anything from you." He didn't delay and didn't want to make it harder than it really was. He hoped Inocihi would forgive him for what he was about to do. He had reasoned the situation, and by putting things together, understood that Ino probably would never have wanted to date him in the first place if she hadn't of known about his past. But he wasn't going to let her go. He wanted to know if she would stay with him, even knowing about Hinata.

She began to get worried with his words.

"That's why I wanted to tell you…that I love you. But…"

"But?" Ino said, lip quivering. She had backed against the counter, as if someone was attempting to take her life.

"I…think I may have…feelings for someone else as well."

The look in Ino's eyes was enough to crush the little courage and resolve he had. He wanted to cry.

"Oh…Naruto-kun…"

She faced the ground, back pressed against the counter. But then she looked up at Naruto.

"No way!" She called.

"What?"

"I'm not going down like that! Naru-kun, I don't know what you thought, but my feelings for you are one hundred percent real, so there's not a chance in hell I'm just gonna stand her and let someone else steal you from me."

"Ino…" Inoichi was right. She was determined. Although she talked tough, Naruto could hear the pain in her voice.

Ino darted outside, much to Naruto's dismay. She had stopped right outside the shop. A little further down the road, Hinata stood, several shades of red.

"I'm guessing it's her?" Ino said with her hands on her hips.

"Ino-chan…what are you planning on doing?"

"I like Hinata, but I'm not going to let her take you from me." She called walking towards the Hyuga princess.

"Ino, wait!"

Hinata had seen everything using her byakugon. So many different scenario's had run through her head about what Naruto was planning, but none of them involved another girl. What was worse is that the girl was one of her closest friends. Ino walked right in front of Hinata.

"Ino-senpai."

"Cut the bull Hinata. Tell me right here and now. What do you feel for Naruto-kun?"

Hinata was scared. Her friendship with Ino was something that she would never tarnish, and to let a boy come between them, it made her want to breakdown. But she couldn't. And she wouldn't lose this chance. Even if it meant that she had to stop being Ino's friend.

"I love Naruto-kun, more than anyone."

Ino gasped, not expecting such a straight forward answer from the usually shy and quiet kunoichi.

"Yeah…well I love him too. And we've been with each other for a little while now. I'm not going to just give him up now that you can finally express your feelings."

"I'm not going to give up either. Now that I do have the courage to tell him, I can't lose this chance."

Ino and Hinata stare each other down. The looks of sadness and unsure-ness were replaced with pure determination.

"I'm willing to do what ever it takes to be with him." Ino said narrowing her eyes.

"I…I am as well." Hinata said trying to her best to stay courageous. Ino's intimidation was working.

When Ino glared at Naruto, he almost died. He walked forward.

"Naruto-kun. You know why you should pick me?" Ino said flirtatiously, which sadly reminded him of Lady Aika.

He blushed and swallowed. She began to wiggle her body and brought her hands to her breast.

"Because of these. She can't give you these for a few more years Naruto-kun."

Naruto had to think of disgusting objects to keep himself from getting a nosebleed.

'Cheap shot…' Hinata thought. She knew she had to do something that she normally wouldn't do, and probably would regret later. But if it was for Naruto, she would do anything.

She slowly unzipped her winter jacket. She closed her eyes as it slid to the ground.

"Na…Naruto-kun…" She whispered in the most sexy voice she could manage.

Ino's jaw dropped. Naruto had went wide eyed, gotten a nosebleed, and then his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

"So that's what you hide under that jacket…wait, I mean, no fair!" Ino squealed.

Hinata had already put her jacket back on, but she held a blush that would not go away for a long time.

"Damn it! How was a supposed to know you had boobs as big as Kurenai-sensei. Great, now the butt seduction is out of the question cause he's out cold."

"Ino…please, let's stop. I don't want to ruin our friendship."

"This isn't over by a long shot."

"We can come to a resolve can't we?"

"Like what?"

"Well…if we both love Naruto-kun, and neither of us wants to give him up…why don't."

"No way! We can't share him!"

Hinata blushed even more. "I just don't want to fight anymore."

"That's it! We'll fight, and winner gets to be Naru-kun's girlfriend."

"No…I just said-"

"Come on Hinata! You know sharing him won't work. That just sounds impossible."

Hinata looked down, clenching her fist.

"Fine."

"Are you both that insane?" Kurenai said appearing again.

"Kurenai-sensei! You were still following me?"

"That's not the point! You two are about to fight each other over this kid? Is he really worth it?"

They look down at the unconscious blonde, who now has a goofy smile on his face and a bulge in his pants.

"Yes!" They call in unison.

"Kurenai-sensei, I love Naruto-kun, and I guess so does Hinata-senpai. But I don't want to lose Naruto-kun. All this time I've had a petty crush on Sasuke. That's all it was. But I'm in love now. I've never felt this way before. I've never really felt happy unless I was with Naruto. He made me forget all about my parents divorce."

The two other females cringed. It had been a while since Mr and Mrs. Yamanaka had split up, but the way it affected Ino hadn't diminished at all. To say that Naruto made her feel happy again, must have meant that she really did care that much.

"I've always liked Naruto-kun. Over the years, I've grown to love him. Even when my father despised him, I always liked him. I started to fall in love with him because of his determination. He never gave up, and I wanted to be just like him. I was weak…I still am. But I know Naruto-kun can help me. And I want to help him, just like when we were kids. I always wanted to show Naruto that some people out there do love him. And they love him for him, not because of pity."

Kurenai listened to them both. At first she thought it was simple crushing, but both of these girls were completely in love with Naruto, and they both had pretty damn good reasons. The blonde shinobi was revered so high in the eyes of the two kunoichi, and neither wanted to give him up no matter what.

"Fine…I see. Both of you love him, but does he love the both of you?"

They look down at Naruto, and by what the two females had already told her, she knew the answer.

"Ino, Hinata had the right choice then. If you're both willing to be with him, and he loves you both enough to be with the both of you, then hell, do it. As far as I'm concerned, all three of you need people to hold on to, and you found each other for that. If he truly does love the both you, then he wouldn't be willing to hurt either one of you for the other."

"He wasn't. He told me he didn't want to hurt me."

"He came to you Ino, to let you know that there was someone else. Hinata, he wasn't planning on hiding this from you either. You've both picked a very nice person to fall for."

Hinata and Ino look each other in the eyes. If he truly loved them.

"Are you two willing?" Kurenai asked.

Both girls had played possibilities for the future. They didn't include a second kunoichi. But love had many forms, and maybe this was one of them. Kurenai was right about one thing. They needed all the love they could get, and they had no clue how true that was for Naruto. After a while, both girls faced Kurenai.

"We're willing."

Kurenai smiled. "Now, for the deal sealer. You both have to fuck him senseless."

"What!?" They called in unison.

She began to laugh hysterically. "I…I was just joking (hah) you should've seen the looks on your faces! Hahaha!"

Ino and Hinata looked away, blushing and angry. "That's so not funny."

"You're right," She said calming down. "Because I was serious." She said before winking at them and then leaving in a swirl of leaves.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She was playing in the game of love, messing around with it, and practically bending it to her whim. But for some odd reason, it always eluded her. She could never play the game for the person who it really mattered; herself. After leaving Hinata and Ino earlier in the morning she had returned home and laid in bed all day. The moon had risen some time ago, but she only found herself thinking of the two young kunoichi, and their blonde haired lover.

'So young, and already in love.'

She smiled sadly, still feeling that she could have the same thing. Someone to love. Not just anyone. Someone who made her feel special, like she actually belonged. She was the strongest female jonin in Konoha, and had many admirers because of this. But none of them felt the way Hinata and Ino felt for Naruto. No one loved her for her, and her personality. Even Asuma felt that she was a piece of eye candy. She did things that made her look good, and could do things that were oh so bad.

But out of everyone that she could think of, there was one person who didn't treat her like eye candy, and that was because this person never seemed to think of her. Kakashi Hatake, the legendary copy ninja of Konoha. Was he so high up on a pedestal that he didn't have time to be bothered with small fry like Kurenai, or was he really not interested in just her body and her actions? How could she find out how the jonin felt for her, or even if he felt anything at all? Why him? Because he was the only one who didn't see her as a sex toy? If there was another person who was just like Kakashi, would she feel the same way for that person? No. She knew she wouldn't. She had wanted to be with Kakashi ever since they were just becoming jonin. He was always so care free and laid back. Sure, he seemed to be stuck up his ass and his book sometimes, but no one's perfect.

Her thoughts were interrupted as someone knocked on her door. She stood and walked over, wondering who would be there at that time of night. When she opened the door, she was more than surprised.

"Ka-Kakashi! Wha…what are you doing here?"

"I felt you thinking of me. I came over right away." He said, slowly pushing her back into her small house.

"What are you doing?"

"I was thinking of you as well Kurenai-chan." His words made her feel like a small girl again, and she loved every bit of it.

He pulled his mask away, revealing his almost perfect face. The only blemish, a small cut by his mouth. She was mesmerized by the unique of his face, like every single cell was telling its own story. She kissed him, and he kissed back. She bit his ear and he bit back.

"You are something else." He whispered in her ear, making her shiver, although a continuously growing warm feeling was building between her legs.

He slid his hand behind her, and gripped her butt. Then he pulled her face gently to his with his free hand, planting another sensual kiss on her lips.

"Kakashi…oohh…we don't even know each other…" She trailed off as he began to nibble right above her collar bone.

"We know enough." True enough she thought.

She wrapped an arm around him as he picked her up and carried her to the bed. The longer they touched, the more the coiling feeling in her stomach grew. She needed it to be released.

"Kakashi…take me…"

"As you wish my queen."

Another kiss on her lips, and then one on her chin. Another on her collarbone, and one down to her chest. She was getting anxious. She couldn't wait. She grabbed a hand full of his silver hair and pulled him back to her face, demanding another kiss. He gently escaped her grasp, teasing her as his left hand parted her legs. She didn't know how or when, but he held a kunai, in which he used to cut the wrap outfit completely away. Now her breast shown clearly to him, and only because she slightly had one leg above the other, could he not see what he wanted. He continued the kisses from where he left off, at her chest. He cupped both of her breast in his hands and began to kiss them like they were her hands. She was more than riled now. He was teasing her more than she could handle.

"Don't make me suffer Kakashi…"

"But that makes it all the more enjoyable."

He sucked on her, making her squirm in unkempt pleasure. Her moans and pleas for him to stop the torture was music to his ears. For the love of it, he felt time to relieve her some of her pain. He leaned over her again and kissed her, sliding his left hand over her stomach, and slowly down to where the most pain was aching to be relieved. When she felt the tips of his finger brush over her, she closed her eyes.

He moved one finger in between her lips, moving it up and down, and receiving a satisfying moan for his efforts. He did it once again, gently massaging her swollen clit and eliciting another moan from the crimson eyed kunoichi.

"Ka…Kakashi…ooohh."

She was wanting it. Longing for it. She felt his middle finger now, sliding down. Down, and brushing her entrance, as if asking permission. She was screaming in her mind, that permission was granted. However the feeling never came. She opened her eyes.

The room was dark. She was fully dressed and laying on her bed. She looked around, seeing that it was the middle of the night. She had fallen asleep.

'A dream…just a dream…'

She wanted to cry, because it had felt so real. Had she put herself in a genjutsu? Was she really longing for his touch that much? She hadn't a clue. But there was one thing she did know.

'I am one perverted woman.'

_So another chapter has been completed, and I still fail to instill the true action storyline. I suck miserably. Looks like this one will take two chapters, because I wanted to get this done! So, the story continues, and next chapter, gasp, everyone will appear! And yes, I'm as confused as you all are right about now. _

_PREPOSTION! Every one go get laid!_


	11. Brothers Bond, Cousins Grievance

-1_Ogenki Deska! Two updates in one week! I'm on a roll! But don't get used to this! This may be a one time thing. (Just because my writers block recently went away.) We have officially passed the 10 chapter mark! You know what that means? I don't either. So, as always, enjoy le story. Ikito!_

Chapter 11: Brothers Bond, Cousins Grievance

"**Good morning Kit. Wake the hell up already."**

'Wha…it's too damn early for you to be messing with me fox. Did you unlock more of that memory?'

"**No, but I'm pretty sure you're going to remember something today."**

He frowned at the Kyuubi's words.

'Okay, what the hell are you laughing at?'

He was about to enter his mind but instead began to wonder where he was. He didn't remember going home, that's for sure. But he was in a bed.

'Okay, maybe I should find out what he's laughing at after another three or four hours.' He mumbled and snuggled back into bed.

'Wait…what's that smell…'

Naruto sniffed the air. The smell was relaxing…and familiar. It smelled like…autumn lilacs? He knew that smell perfectly.

"Ino…" He mumbled, wrapping his arms around her even tighter.

"Naru-kun." She mumbled back.

Then his eyes darted open.

"Ino! What the hell?!" They were in Ino's room.

"**That's not all kit." **The Kyuubi called stifling a laugh.

An arm fell over his shoulder making him jump. It pulled him back, into a soft pillow. At least, he thought it was a pillow.

"Naru-kun." A soft voice came from behind him.

He gulped. What the hell was going on.

'Okay…I'm in Ino's room…in Ino's bed…with Ino…and there's someone else too.' The memories from the day before flooded his head.

Slowly, he turned his head and caught a glimpse of bluish black hair. Before he could wrap his mind around the situation, two pairs of hands wrapped around his chest, squishing him against the pillows even tighter.

'Those…those aren't pillows.' He thought, trying his hardest not to get a nosebleed. However, that was even harder as Ino turned over, wrapped her arms around his neck, and put a leg over his.

He was sandwiched between Ino and Hinata, two of the hottest girls in Konoha, and still breathing. Either he was dreaming, or had died and went to heaven. Or maybe it was hell, seeing that if anyone found him in that position he would have two extremely powerful shinobi on his ass like white on rice. He knew he had to find a way out of it, even if it was something that he would fantasize about for a long time.

'Fox, I'll kill you for this.'

"**What did I do? You're the ladies man."**

Naruto had been so focused on finding a way out of his predicament, he had forgotten how close a vital spot of his was to a certain blonde kunoichi. As soon as he felt something press against him, his body did a hard spasm. It was stopped as a hand jolted down and grabbed him.

"Dammit, get this flashlight out of heeeere!" She mumbled in her sleep. However the 'here' was long because she had pressed the so called flashlight between her legs. Her body slowly began to move back and forth against him.

"This swing is hard…" She called.

Naruto was crying. For two reasons. One, he was enjoying this too much to even think anymore. Two, he was going to need a change in pants real soon if Ino didn't stop. Matters got worse however. Hinata had rolled over, right over him. He was pinned to the bed, and Ino's leg pressed harder onto his side, as well as smashing him completely between her legs. Add the problem that he was suffocating, due to the fact that Hinata had his face smashed in between her chest, and she never slept in her winter jacket…or a bra. He hoped with all his might that the thing poking his cheek was an oddly placed button. But he knew that Hinata's black t-shirt was button less.

'I hope I can still laugh at the fact that I'm still a virgin after this right?'

"**Uh…"**

'FOX!'

"**I'm joking. Once the girls brought you here, they waited for Inoichi to arrive home but he didn't. They fell asleep waiting for him. You're still a virgin kit, although I wouldn't laugh about that."**

Inoichi hadn't come home? He had went to the Hokage's office early the morning before, so why wasn't he home. That reminded him about the problem going on with Sasuke. Now he had no choice but to get up. He went through his mind, thinking of something he had done during all of his training that would help him in the situation. It was as obvious as day, but he had to be careful on what he did. Making one hand sign, he closed his eyes and performed the jutsu.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." He whispered, and felt himself standing almost instantly. When he opened his eyes, he was glad to see a clone sandwiched between the two kunoichi. Now all he had to do was get out of the Yamanaka residence without awakening the two sleeping females, and without being seen.

He tip toed to the door, that was to his relief, wide open. After sneaking down the small hall and towards the stairs, he heard shuffling.

'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.' He repeated in his mind.

He heard a yawn from the floor bellow; the Yamanaka shop. His dread told him the tired yawner was Inoichi.

'I am so dead…' Was his thoughts until he saw the window just a few feet back, by Ino's room. He had two options. Run down stairs, try to explain his situation to Inoichi, and hope not to be killed. Or he could try to get the window open, risk being caught trying to flee the scene, and with no doubt, get mutilated, gutted, and marred all at the same time.

He'd take his chances fleeing than trying to explain that kind of situation to one of the formers parents. With as much speed as he could muster without making a racket, he moved to the window and tried to pry it open. With one push…it didn't budge. Looking down at the sill, he noticed it was taped shut.

'Oh come on! Kami must really hate my guts right about now!'

Then he could hear footsteps coming up the stairs. His rant of 'oh shit' restarted in his mind. He fumbled with the kunai on his waist, but was able to get one and slashed the tape in a hurry. Another push and the window flew open. In that second, Inoichi appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Huh? Did Ino open this window? I told her not too." He looked out the window, not noticing Naruto right over the sill, sweating terribly.

'Oh fuck! The clone!'

Inoichi had turned from the window and was only two steps from Ino's door. Naruto trembled as he did the hand sign to dispel the clone.

Inoichi entered his daughter's room and froze in shock. He wasn't expecting her to have company while he was gone. But he smiled. The two girls were slowly awaking in bed, their personal orange teddy bear having vanished completely.

'If it was a guy over I probably would have had a heart attack.'

"Dad? Where's Nar-" Ino was cut off as Hinata smashed her hand against Ino's mouth. Ino's eyes widened as she realized what she was about to do, and both girls blushed beyond natural possibility.

"Hello Ino. And you're Hinata, correct. Sorry I'm late, but my new job is killer. It was an all night thing, and we still got nothing. But really, next time ask before you let friends sleep over okay Ino?"

"Uh…yeah dad, sure thing." She chuckled nervously.

"Um, we're going to go out now dad. We'll be back later."

"This early?" Inoichi said as the two girls pushed their way past him in a hurry.

"We have to meet our teams later so we're going to hang out now!" Ino yelled already out the house.

'Odd.' Inoichi thought. He walked to the window that was not supposed to be open and was about to close it. Something caught his eye though.

'Strange…looks like someone cut the tape with a…kunai…'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

His narrow escape was short lived. He was now running from bush to bush trying to avoid being seen while traversing back to Iruka's home. As some may say, fate can be cruel to those who play around in it too much. Fate would make you feel so good and then smash your face in. That's basically how Naruto felt as he waddled around, his pants tighter than ever as Ino's flashlight just wouldn't go away. The fox had returned to filling his head with an annoying cackle, and had ignored Naruto's pleas for him to give him silence to think. He remembered one talk he had with the Hokage, Iruka, and several Anbu, all who seemed embarrassed of discussing the matter. There was one way for someone his age to relieve the stress of the obscure nature of young teens. There was no chance of him making it to Iruka's without him being caught so he had no other choice but to do the deed in the next bush he could find.

"**Oh my, kit, you really are going to go through with this? That Ino girl seemed crazy at first but I think I can come to like her."**

'Take all nine of your tails and shove em.'

He was happy to find that the next bush was secured behind a tree and partially on the village wall. He could see Iruka's house from the bush, but there was an open road between him and freedom. Needless to say, there were patrons all over the place so it was now or never. Boys always face a problem. When you need to get the job done, and you have nothing on you. Yeah, well fantasizing does help. Though it can't compare to experience.

'Experience…maybe I should've taken advantage of that situation…'

"**Would your death have been worth it?"**

'I'll never know now will I?' He spat back.

He was safely perched in the bush. His safe haven for the time being, as he wished. How long it would last, he had no clue, so time did not need to be wasted pondering his seemingly inevitable capture, nor his lack of sense to take two hot gals all on for what they had. He tugged down his orange pants and ripped open his jacket, not caring, considering he had about twelve more at Iruka's place.

'Alright Uzamaki…this is just like a mission. Get it done, and get out. That simple.'

The problem in which he had thought of before. What to fantasize about. Well that was simple, who else could say they woke up between two smoking girls, had one basically rub him out a load, and the other give him a face plant. His first thought had already got him started.

'Just a mission…just a mission…gosh, Ino's legs were so warm…and Hinata was so soft…gah! Just a mission…just a mission…'

Almost there, he thought. Then his mission would be complete.

"Hey, what are you doing over there?"

Preparation, gone to waste. Calm thoughts, gone to waste. All sense of security, gone to waste. His mission was complete. But it ended with a bang, much bigger, and messier than he had planned. There was no where for him to wash his hands.

"Are you okay? Do you need assistance?" A person called to him from behind. Naruto slowly turned around, trying his hardest not reveal any piece of his body. A young boy, probably only a year or so older than Naruto himself, stood on his hands facing the bush.

"Ah…uh, I'm fine. You can go away now."

"You are a strange fellow. What is your name?" The boy asked still on his hands.

"Naruto. Naruto Uzamaki."

"Ah, so you are the one responsible for those youthful acts done to the hokage monument! It is nice to meet you Naruto, I am Rock Lee."

"Rock Lee? What kind of…never mind. What do you mean by youthful?" He regretted asking the question right away, seeing as he was still trying to get the boy to go away.

"That is a good question. I asked my sensei, Gai-sensei, the exact same thing. I used to think your acts of demolishment were barbaric, but he explained to me-"

'Oh great, a lecture!'

"**You brought this on yourself kit."**

"Naruto-kun are you listening?"

"Yeah…continue."

"Like I said, he explained to me that you had a tough time growing up, even worse than me not having ninjutsu. That was just a way of expressing yourself, and should be admired! He said your flames of youth burn even brighter than his, and that I should take after you!"

'Flames of youth? What the heck is this guy talking about? Better not ask, I got to find a way out of here.'

"**I think you've just extinguished your flames of youth."**

His laugh echoes around Naruto again, but he ignores it. He had to find some way to get Lee away from him.

"Hey, Bushy brows, I have a dare for you!" He said, hoping the kid would fall for it. To his delight, Lee's eyes lit up with vigor, and he seemed to ignore the bushy brows comment.

"Name it! Anything!"

"I dare you to walk this entire wall over fifty times on your hands."

"You're on Naruto-kun! I've already done three hundred, another fifty will be child's play!" He called and sped away.

Naruto sighed in relief. Practically in the clear. All he had to do was wipe his hands on some leaves, pull up his pants and get out of there. A matter that takes only seconds. But fate happened to be extra cruel that day. He had wiped his hands and was about to start adjusting the rest of his clothing until his worse nightmare, or greatest fantasy arrived.

"Naru-kun, there you are…what are you doing in a bush?" Ino asked, followed closely by Hinata.

"I'm taking a nap." He said sarcastically, losing all morale to continue his journey to Iruka's.

"Come out of there, we want to talk to you."

'Easier said than done.' More dread fell upon Naruto, as he began to assume another stiffy.

"Uh, I just forgot! Ino, Hinata, there's something that I need you to get from Ichiraku. I need to stay here to meet…uh…Kiba! So I can't leave this spot."

"O…kay…What do you need?" Ino asked.

"It's…my free coupon supply I get every Tuesday! Just see if Ayame will give it to you!"

Ino looked at him skeptically, and he thought he was caught for sure. But then she began to walk away.

"I'll be right back you two."

Damn it, almost free. Hinata had stayed behind. Somehow, someway, fate seemed to grow a heart.

"Oh no! I have to get home and tell father where I was!" Hinata squealed and darted away.

It wasn't hard for him to get his bearings together after that. He sighed, being one hundred percent in the clear. Hands wiped, pants up, and shirt…well, still ripped. That was okay. The most disturbing situation he hoped he would ever have to face was now over. Almost. Fate still had some tricks left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A typical day consisted of waking up, eating breakfast, and then eating criminals wits for brunch. Yeah, making people crack under pressure and spill their existence was enjoyable. Having grown men scream out in agony, before he even gets in the room, that's good living. So why was Ibiki in a bad mood since he was in such a situation all night? Because his criminal may not have been a criminal at all? Because he didn't cry out in agony, but in sorrow? Yeah, that hit the nail on the head. As he sat thinking in his chair, he couldn't help but recap on all the things that transpired the night before.

From what Kakashi and Iruka had told him, Sasuke was the victims, Uzamaki Naruto's, best friend. They were almost always together, but noticeable changes in their attitudes toward each other were starting to worry both adults. Ibiki didn't care about the relationship of the two, he just wanted to punish someone who deserved it. And who deserved it more than someone who might be conspiring with enemy nin, especially under the most dangerous threat to the leaf village.

"So how much longer are you gonna just let him sit there." Inoichi said pacing.

"Until his resolve is so low, he won't have a choice but to spill everything."

"I don't know whether to be sick about this, or pissed at that Uchiha brat."

"Sick about this? That kid is damned lucky. Usually we use poisons and chemicals to cause serious pain to the victim, and they usually spray on their own."

Inoichi sighed and stopped pacing. "I want to do this now. If he has done anything to Naruto while claiming to be his friends, I'll personally carry out his punishment."

"Inoichi!" Ibiki called angrily. When he turned around, Ibiki had him by the collar and pushed him against the wall.

"Never take these things too personally. If that's how you're going to act, then you need to stay out here until you get calmed down."

Inoichi growled but did nothing to get Ibiki off of him. He was right though. He shouldn't be getting so worked up, or he could seriously hurt Sasuke. But then again, was that a bad thing?

"I'll go in and begin. You come in once you feel that you've got your head cool and collected."

Sasuke sat tied to a chair in a room lit by only one light bulb. His head was down and his hair was messy, having been sweated out. Sweat and tears covered the ground all around the chair, and sweat still dripped from the teens face.

"So, you ready to talk." Ibiki said, leaning against the wall in front of him and folding his arms.

The Uchiha began to chuckle, making Ibiki smile. "Talk…what is there to talk about…" Sasuke mumbled in a tone that didn't sound like him.

"Oh there's something to talk about. For instance, why you lead the Uzamaki kid on like he's your best friend."

Sasuke didn't chuckle anymore. He stayed silent. After a while Ibiki heard sobbing coming from the raven haired boy.

"Naruto…he is my friend. My best friend. I don't want to burn him. I don't want to hurt him! DON'T MAKE ME!" He yelled and leaped forward, but being tied to the chair just made the chair fall forward. He was crying hard now.

"Get out…GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" He screamed from the floor.

Ibiki watched in shock. That wasn't what he expected. Sasuke's resolve wasn't just low, his mental stability was as well. He left the room. Inoichi was watching the scene with great interest through the one way window.

"Something is terribly wrong here." He said as Ibiki stood next to him.

"You can say that again. It's like he's fighting against himself."

"Or something inside of himself. Ibiki, calm him down. I'm going to do a mind walk to find out exactly what's going on. If he's riled up like that, then he may think of something that could kill me."

Ibiki nodded. The medical nin on standby gave him painkillers, and some sedatives. Ibiki, being as rash as he was, walked into the room, sat Sasuke up strait, and shoved the tranquilizers into Sasuke's mouth. Then he chopped the back of his neck.

"There, instant knock out and the sedatives will keep him down for a few hours."

Inoichi frowned at Ibiki's methods but found it necessary. One of the Anbu retrieved a chair for him. He took his position in front of the unconscious Uchiha and prepared his jutsu.

'Enter!'

Once again, the room around him faded. Unlike Naruto's mind, Sasuke's had a layout. However, it wasn't any better. Most people's minds resembled a hallway or a library. Sasuke's was the Uchiha compound. Inoichi didn't know if this was the difference between normal shinobi and Uchiha, but the mind was still direly messed up. Buildings were burning, and bodies with names on them lay strewn throughout the street. Inoichi couldn't help but feel sorry for both Sasuke and Naruto, their minds being the most destroyed of anyone he knew. He looked up to the sky, seeing that it was red with black clouds. Then he felt a chakra signature, which scared him to his core.

'There should only be one fluctuating chakra here and that's mine.' He thought.

He felt the same thing in Naruto, but expected it to be the kyubi. Now that there was a chakra other than Sasuke's and his own present, he had to be prepared for anything.

"You do not belong here." A voice called behind Inoichi.

He didn't want to face the person. There shouldn't have been a person. But he couldn't just ignore it. It could've been the answer to his problems.

"Who are-" He cut off in mid sentence, his eyes widening upon laying his eyes on the shinobi that stood a few feet away from him.

"You do not belong here, Inoichi Yamanaka. Leave this place at once please."

"You…you're Itachi Uchiha!" Inoichi breathed out.

"I am the image of Itachi Uchiha."

Sasuke's brother, or his image rather, wore an Anbu jacket with a short sleeved shirt beneath it. He had a katana in his hand. Blood stained him and the katana. It was the same image Sasuke had seen when Itachi killed their parents.

"Big brother…" Another voice called coming from one of the buildings. However, this voice didn't have a chakra signature, which meant it was one of Sasuke's real memories.

"Sasuke…I thought I told you to find and kill the Uzamaki child."

"What?!" Inoichi called out.

"You do not belong here, Inoichi Yamanaka." Another Itachi appeared beside the first one.

The first Itachi turned to the building where Sasuke's voice had come from. He walked away, as if he hadn't heard a word Inoichi had said.

"Why big brother? Why are you doing this?"

"Because Sasuke. I wanted to see if I was strong enough. Strong enough to have these eyes."

Eyes appeared in the sky. Inoichi could tell they were the sharingon. But the type was something he had only read about. He had learned that Itachi Uchiha had achieved the most powerful stage known in the sharingon, the mangekyou, by killing his entire clan, save his little brother Sasuke.

'Wait! This isn't a memory! This is a genjutsu!' Inoichi thought.

He made his hand sign and called release, but to no avail.

"Foolish Inoichi Yamanaka. This is a permanent genjutsu, unable to be released by chakra less than that of the amount used to create it." Itachi said.

"Damn you…why are you doing this? How?"

"I am a mere chakra image of the true man. As long as he exist, so do we. We are his direct connection to this child."

"You made Sasuke burn Naruto's apartment."

"It was our job to aid Sasuke in retrieving the mangekyou sharingon."

"What?"

"Sasuke Uchiha does not want the mangekyou sharingon, but it is the only way for him to gain power."

"That doesn't make sense? Why do you want him to gain power?"

"So he can kill Itachi Uchiha." The Itachi clone said, stopping all movement. Everything began to fade except the image and Inoichi.

Now a room that seemed to be in a hidden cave appeared.

"This is the memory of Itachi Uchiha that he has left buried in Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke Uchiha can not see this memory unless we let him."

Inoichi tried to see clearly through the dark cave. Three people sat on the ground, and one person was kneeling in front of them. He knew that the three people were the council of Konoha. The person kneeling in front of them was Itachi himself. Their lips moved, but no words came out. Once the council stopped speaking, Itachi had jumped up and seemed to be shouting, but still, silence surrounded them.

"What is this?"

"Since I am a mere image of Itachi Uchiha, his memory can only be completely revealed by him. This is the day the council ordered Itachi to do something callous."

"Ordered him to do what?"

"…"

"To do what!?"

"I am unable to access that part of the memory."

Inoichi grew mad. The fact that he was arguing with Itachi Uchiha's clone, inside of Sasuke Uchiha's head, had already confused him, but now none of his answers were being answered. He decided to find out his first question.

"How will Sasuke gain the mangekyou sharingon?"

"By killing his best friend."

Inoichi's eyes dilated. "No…he wouldn't…Sasuke would never kill Naruto."

"That is correct."

"Then why did he burn Naruto's apartment? Or did you do that too?"

"We hold Sasuke Uchiha in bondage. His will is powerful but ours is stronger. He fights us every night to resist this truth. However, when we subdue him, his entire mind, and physical body succumbs to our will."

The scene changed once again, placing Inoichi in front of Naruto's apartment. Sasuke stumbled through the street like a mad zombie. His eyes were closed and he clutched his head as if something was causing him great pain. Every step seemed to cause him grief. Once in front of the house, he wrenched pieces of a tree off. Inoichi watched as Sasuke did a grand fireball that was much too masterful for a child just about to graduate the academy. He reached down with his left arm, but his right gripped it, trying to stop it completely. But it was too late. He picked up a burning piece of wood and hurled it into Naruto's apartment. After that, he collapsed to the ground.

"He…didn't…it was all you. You Itachi Uchiha!" Inoichi screamed. But the image didn't speak. It just watched as Sasuke stood once more, but his eyes were empty. The clones had complete control over him, and made him flee the scene. Not long after, several more people began to show up at the apartment and began to throw the remaining burning pieces of wood into the apartment. The image faded as Ishi Haruno picked up a piece and hurled it.

"That's it. You know what you've come for now please leave this place Inoichi Yamanaka."

"Please, answer me one more question."

"As you wish."

"Why did you show me all of this? Why didn't you just try to kill me?"

"Because Itachi Uchiha wished no harm to befall anyone in this place."

"No harm…that means…you never hurt Sasuke?"

"Not at all. Not a living organism in this place may be harmed. It was Itachi Uchiha's motives all along."

Inoichi exited Sasuke's mind. Ibiki had been standing in the corner of the room. Inoichi stood but fell right back into the chair. He was tired, having used so much chakra, but why did it feel like he used three times the amount that he thought he used?

"Ibiki…"

"What happened?"

"I can't explain that here."

"Dammit haven't I waited long enough?"

"That only took about half an hour."

"Are you out of your mind? You were in there for over three hours."

"Three hours?!"

He had forgotten that most of the things he had seen inside of the Uchiha was a genjutsu. Time must have been completely altered, to hold Sasuke longer in the real world, than inside of his head.

"I had to give another sedative about twenty minutes ago."

'That must have been when the Sasuke appeared inside that building…'

"Come on Inoichi, we have to file a report of this, and get it to the Hokage, but first it's time for you to explain what happened."

"For starters…Sasuke is innocent…in a way."

After that, they made their report to the Hokage, who found it better not to tell Naruto of this situation. If need be, the reports of the matter would be destroyed and the incident would be dropped. At least any part dealing with Sasuke that is. But Ibiki new the Hokage wasn't thinking the entire situation out. All he could do was hope that Inoichi could keep a close enough eye on the two to make sure that a disaster didn't occur.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hinata had made it home faster than she realized. Most of the Hyuga servants were still sleep, and even her father would probably be in bed. Maybe she could sneak back into her room and pretend like she was home. However, she had forgotten one little thing.

"DADDY! NEE-CHAN'S JUST COMING IN THE HOUSE!"

Hanabi screamed from the front door. Hinata's heart sank and her world crumbled around her.

"Ha…Hanabi-kun, what are you doing?"

Hanabi turned around and showed her the dog bite marks still on her hip. Hinata groaned.

"I told you I'm not consciously aware of the things I do when I'm awoken too early. If anyone you should blame father."

"Blame me for what?" Hiashi said coming outside, hands behind his back, and deadly glare on his face.

"Uh…nothing, father dearest." Hinata said, trying to sweet talk her way out of the crap her little sister had just buried her in.

It didn't seem to work as Hiashi still held the same glare he had been relaying when he first exited the Hyuga main building.

"I will only ask you this once. Why didn't you return home yesterday after you went to meet with Kurenai-chan?"

She was neck deep in hot stinky shit. What was she supposed to say. 'Oh hey daddyo, I just went and slept with Naruto and Ino, and don't worry, it was an awesome three way!' She wanted to smack her forehead. They hadn't done anything, but if you're sleeping in the bed with someone, especially of the opposite sex, that makes things a little complicate. Add the fact that another girl was in the bed as well, and both of the females were supposedly dating the middle man, then you got yourself a whole rubric's cube of problems. That hit her as well. Naruto didn't know about the two girls agreement to share him and they didn't know what would be his answer.

"I'm waiting for an answer Hinata, I told you I will only ask you once."

Hanabi was now looking scared for her big sister. Her father was releasing KI strong enough to topple a giant snake. As Hinata's eyes darted around, her mind trying to grasp an answer, someone else called from behind her.

"Sorry, Hiasha-sama, she was spending the night with me." Ino called running up to the two.

"Uh…who are you? And did you just call me Hiasha-"

"I'm Ino Yamanaka. Nice to meet you Hiasha-sama! I'm sorry that we didn't tell you about this last night, but we were so excited about having a sleepover, that we just went ahead and did so."

"Um…that's fine and all but my name is-"

"You don't believe me? There were other people there too."

A girl wearing a pink shirt with her hair in two buns walked towards them, alongside Kurenai.

"Hello Hiasha-sama. My name's Ten-Ten. We're sorry we borrowed Hinata from you for so long." Ten-Ten said, trying to hold back a fit of laughter. Hiashi's face was red with embarrassment and anger, as they continued to call his name wrong and didn't give him a chance to answer back. As soon as he opened his mouth, someone else spoke.

"Yes, I'm sorry for not coming to you about this before I organized it _Hiasha-san._" Kurenai joked.

"IT'S HIASHI, DAMMIT!" He fumed and turned around, storming back into the Hyuga compound while dropping verbal bombs under his breath.

As soon as he was back in the house, everyone, including Hanabi burst into a rampage of laughter. Hinata wiped her eyes and recomposed herself.

"Tha…Thank you everyone. When did you organize this Ino?"

"After I got Naruto's coupons, I went back to the bush, but neither of you were there. Kurenai-sensei was there, so I asked her what happened. She told me that you probably had to run back home since you didn't tell your father about being out so late. We didn't want you to get in trouble because of me, so we found Gai, and asked if we could borrow Ten-Ten for a little plan we had."

"And I thank you. This is much more fun than what Gai-sensei had us doing."

"That's not true, Ten-Ten!" Rock Lee called jumping from a tree.

"I second that." Mite Gai said dropping down as well.

"Gai, what are you doing here?"

"Neji-kun wanted to see what you all had planned for the Hyuga leader." Lee responded.

"Then where is he." Kurenai asked looking around.

Hinata had frozen at the words of his name. Her cousin, Neji Hyuga, supposedly the strongest genin of the rookie nine. She had far too many encounters with him already, that left her thanking kami for being alive. When he dropped from the tree that Gai and Lee had occupied, that feeling returned.

"You all are pitiful. Making the Hyuga head look like a complete idiot." He said coldly.

"Especially you two. The so called daughters of the filthy scum."

"Neji, calm down. It was just a joke-" Ten-Ten was saying, but when Neji rounded on her, she zipped her lips.

"You don't joke with the Hyuga clan. You would be wise to adhere to that." He spat, and began to walk further into the Hyuga compound.

Hinata was about to cry, her head held down.

"Stop it…" She whispered. No one else heard her, but Neji had stopped walking.

"What did you say?"

"I said stop it!" She yelled and turned to face him.

"Hinata, what are you doing?" Ino asked.

"Why…why do you despise the main branch so much?" Hinata asked.

Neji smirked. Then he began to chuckle. "You honestly don't know? Dear ol' daddy hasn't told you about why there is a main branch and a side branch? Why should I spoil the surprise? You're the princess, so you're going to be the wielder of this damn forsaken curse anyway."

"Neji! As the heir of the Hyuga throne, I order you to explain yourself!" She said with tears in her eyes. It was the first time she had ever used rank on anyone at all.

Neji had once again frozen. This time, he spun around with rage and shouted loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Drop dead! What do you want? You want me to get on my knees and grovel? Kiss your boots, stained with the blood of those you and your precious main branch have stepped on to get where you are now? Well listen to this _princess_. I will never degrade myself to a pathetic excuse for a leader such as Hiashi Hyuga, nor will I let his pathetic offspring order me to do against my wishes. Destiny will decide everything that transpires from here on out, and I will do as destiny commands me. You, you feeble little bitch, are not destiny, and until you sit on that bloodstained throne, you will _never_ be."

With rage flaring in his eyes, and his byakugon accidentally activated, he turned from the stunned group of people and ran away, leaving there sights. Hinata stood in place, trembling. Then she dropped to her knees.

"Hinata…" Kurenai walked over to her student and held her as she began to cry. Hanabi had already begun crying, half way through Neji's outburst.

"I'll go talk to Neji." Gai said and went after the enraged genin. Now a large group stood outside the Hyuga residence. In the midst of the discussion, Naruto, Shikamaru, Shino, and Chouji had arrived on scene but were shocked when Neji began to scream.

"Kurenai-sensei…what have we done? What have we done to deserve such resentment?"

"Nothing Hinata. You've done nothing at all."

Inside the Hyuga main house, Hiashi watched what transpired. After closing the curtains and sitting on his bed, he summoned a Hyuga servant.

"Please…bring me…the will of Hizashi Hyuga."

_Ta-da, another chapter done. Now, the story comes together! (Heh, hope no one noticed the fact that I said all the characters would appear in this chapter. Time for an edit repost.) Anyway, enjoy this while it last. I'm tired as all living hell and I'm not going to be posting two chapters in one week anytime soon anymore. Okay, I'm not going to lie, I had fun typing this chapter due to the fact that it actually has something to do with events later on in the story. What are those events? You'll just have to wait to find out…or just threaten me with chocolate. Mmm, chocolate…Well, until next week, l8ter 4U! (Hah, my new slogan!)_


	12. The happiest in the world

-1_Hitomi no Tsubasa. Welcome one and all. First time readers, frequent readers, people who add this story to their alert list (and that's about it) and wait for it to pop up along with the other twelve hundred stories under your alert list! This story represents your interest, be it action, romance, drama (good gosh, haven't we had enough?) or maybe just the randomness. The point being, there's something that keeps you coming back. I want to know what. So I can keep the story to ALL of my readers liking. Ikito!_

Chapter 12: The happiest in the world

(Continued…)

"Kurenai." A voice called to her from somewhere to her left. She looked over, still holding Hinata. However, she felt the young girl pushing her away, seeing the person for herself.

"Father…I'm sorry." She said quickly wiping tears. Hanabi just continued to cry, being comforted by a confused Kiba whom had just arrived.

"What's with that guy, and what's with all this talk about main and side trees?"

"Branches you idiot. The Hyuga clan is split into two houses." Shikamaru explained. "The main branch is supposed to be the stronger of the two, and deals with diplomacy and crap like that, while the side branch is used for tedious work and war."

This stabbed into Hiashi as he heard the Nara speak. He couldn't help but stay silent, seeing as the shadow bender was basically spot on. Hiashi was glad he didn't know everything.

"Hinata, Hanabi, please come with me. The rest of you, I ask you to leave at this time." Hiashi turned and walked back into the house without even waiting for a response from anyone.

They were all turning to leave, until Ino heard growling. She looked around and saw Naruto glued to the spot that he had arrived on. His head was down, his fist clenched, and he seemed to be shaking.

"Naru-kun…what's wrong?" She asked, a little scared to even touch him.

"How dare he…" He whispered.

Everyone had stopped to look at him. Hiashi had stopped at the entrance to his home and had looked back, seeing the crowd slow from its initial dispersion.

"How dare he fix his lips to speak to any woman like that, especially Hinata. She's done nothing wrong to deserve that kind of treatment. All that smack about destiny and fate is just a bunch of bull shit. Everyone's made mistakes, but not everyone deserves to be held accountable for those mistakes. It's human nature, and to let hatred like that build, so much that you would disrespect one of the nicest people in the world like Hinata, is too much of a shame to even be relied on by destiny. A fate like that would end in a dark destiny."

"Where'd that come from?" Shikamaru called.

'That's the demon child? And to think that I doubted that boy.' Hiashi thought.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun. It means so much to hear you call me one of the nicest people you know." Hinata said, a little more confidence in her voice than before.

Hanabi sniffed, finally stopping her tears. "That's because he hasn't seen you when you're awoken early."

'Mood killer.' Ten-Ten thought.

Hinata tried to ignore her little sisters mood killing comment, and moved her way towards her house. Once they both had left the group and entered the house, Naruto turned to Kurenai.

"Uh, what did she mean by I hadn't seen her awoken early?"

"Beats me. I'm interested too." She said before realizing who all were there.

"Hey, Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru, where's Asuma?"

"We're supposed to meet him in a few minutes on field nine." Shikamaru called back.

"Okay…well what about you Naruto, don't you have to meet with Kakashi-ku-…er, Kakashi-san today?"

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot! I need to talk to Sasuke…which reminds me."

Shikamaru froze, knowing what was coming next. He cursed Kurenai for bringing up the copy nin.

"Shikamaru, what happened in the Hokage's office yesterday?"

He was screwed. The adults had made it clear that he wasn't supposed to know about the situation, and Naruto was definitely to be left in the dark. What was worse is that Shikamaru was wrestling with his mind on the matter. As soon as Naruto woke up, he had planned on telling him what happened, but the Hokage forbid it by law. It ticked him off beyond belief, and even made him lose some respect for the old man.

"Naruto-" With the luck that Shikamaru knew didn't belong to a Nara, his skin was saved. Kakashi appeared right next to Naruto and grabbed him by the back of his collar.

"You're late. I don't know what's going on, but that's a penalty. Now come on." They both vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Kurenai fumed, while Shikamaru just sighed. His work done, he turned and headed off with his team. Ino looked back at the Hyuga household and hoped that everything would be alright for Hinata.

"Uh, Kurenai-sensei, what are we going to do now?" Kiba asked.

"We have to wait for Hinata of course."

He turned to see Shino by a tree with his head down.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?"

"I didn't get a chance to speak this time…"

'Big baby.'

After several minutes of waiting, Kurenai got bored.

'Ugh. What's taking so long in there? I know it's a very important family talk but this is just ridiculous.' She turned to look at Kiba. He was brushing Akamaru's hair. She found it amazing that he brushed his dogs hair but not his own.

'May as well have some fun.' "Hey, Kiba." She called striking a sexy pose. She rubbed her hips and shook her chest slightly.

"Huh? Aaaahh!" He screamed as a nosebleed sent him slamming into a tree.

"Wow. He didn't last long." Kurenai mumbled, getting bored again.

"Hey Shino."

"Not gonna happen."

She pouted. "You're no fun."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto and Sasuke stare each other down. Both of them showing rivalry and hatred. Both showing anger that has been sealed down for at least a decade and three years. Both showing no sign of holding back and no sign of easing up for a bit. Then Naruto pulls a lever.

"Not this time dobe!" Sasuke calls, pulling another lever and blocking the ball.

"Lucky!" Naruto called, flicking three more levers.

Sakura watched on the side of Sasuke as the two played on the little soccer table at an arcade that had just opened in the village. Suprisingly, it was a training exercise recommended by Kakashi to test hand eye coordination.

"Let's go Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted, making several people look over.

Naruto frowned slightly, but didn't ease up. He cursed himself for losing the papers for Sakura's reinstatement.

"Gotcha!" Sasuke called, spinning a lever hard, making the little plastic soccer ball fly right into Naruto's goal.

"Dammit! Best two of three!"

"You're on!" Again they played, Sakura cheering in Sasuke's ear the whole time.

"Hey, Sasuke." Naruto called blocking a shot.

"What is it dobe." Sasuke called, making another attempt to score.

"What happened in the Hokage's office yesterday?" Naruto asked seriously.

The table froze of all movement, except for the little plastic ball that rolled against the side. Sasuke was looking down, his hands still on the levers. Naruto glared at him, waiting for a response.

"Sasuke-kun, what did happen? Why'd they take you to the Anbu interrogation head quarter?"

He growled. Naruto couldn't hear it, but Sakura did. She touched his shoulder, only to be turned from. Her heart sank, wondering what could have happened to make Sasuke feel like that.

"Naruto…" Once again, things didn't go as Naruto wanted them as Kakashi appeared in the middle of three.

"Naruto, there's people outside looking for you."

"What?"

"Just go. Team is dismissed." Kakashi said, looking at Sasuke. Sasuke just looked away.

"What happened in the Hokage's office!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto, it was only a debriefing for me and Sasuke, to see how his evaluation went. You and Iruka will be doing yours in a few days."

"What? That's it?"

"Of course." Kakashi said with an invisible smile.

"Now go. I wouldn't keep those two waiting if I were you."

'Two? Oh crap!'

Naruto darted from the arcade once he knew who Kakashi was talking about. After he is gone, Kakashi faces his last two students. Sakura still has a confused look on her face while Sasuke refuses to look up. Kakashi sighs and puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Sasuke, this entire situation is to be forgotten and never awoken again. The Hokage has ordered it, and you know it."

"It's not fair Kakashi-sensei…Naruto has a right to know."

"Sasuke, have you read the story Forever Darkness?"

Sasuke looked up, but still refused to look him in the face. "No."

"The story was made twenty years ago, by an anonymous man only known as the Dark Prince. I won't tell you what the story was about, or how it went. I want you both to find a copy of it and read it. All I will say, is that some things are better left in the dark." Kakashi said before leaving the two.

Sasuke looked away. Before his comrade could say anything, he ran from the arcade, not knowing where he was going. What he expected, but wasn't thinking about, was that she was following him. He had stopped on the side of a building and had began to sob slightly. Sakura had never seen the calm and cool boy she liked cry like that. Ever. It was the first time she had seen him sad at all. No matter what happened.

"I…I don't want to…I can't…he's my best friend…"

"Sasuke-kun."

"I wasn't even strong enough…to protect them. Or to stop him…"

"What are you-"

"I should have died that night. Me, not them. I should be alone-"

Before he could finish another sentence, he felt hands wrap around him and a head buried in his back. His tears almost stopped completely, as he stood in shock, Sakura holding him.

"Don't you ever say that! No matter what happened, you don't deserve to die. You shouldn't have died!"

"Sa…kura." He whispered.

"Whatever happened, it's not your fault! You are strong Sasuke! Stronger than anyone I know. And you should never be alone, and you never will! I promise I'll stay with you no matter what! No matter how far you go, and with who, I will always stay with you Sasuke! Even if you do hate me, I don't care! As long as I'm here, you'll never have to carry a burden alone!"

She cried into his back. It was impulse, telling her to do it. No matter how many times she had seen the Uchiha, never had her emotions been as strong as they were at that moment. Never had they been strait from her heart. All she could hope was that he wouldn't reject her.

"Sakura…thank you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They walked in silence. Naruto behind them, he couldn't see the solemn looks on their faces. He was scared to say the least. As far as he could tell, they hadn't tried to kill each other, or probably had saved their strength for him. It didn't take long for him to realize where they were going, and for him to start seeing flashes of his death in front of him. First flash, was Hinata blasting chakra into him while Ino held him still in her mind jutsu. The second flash, was him being pushed off of the Hokage's head and plummeting to his doom. Being lost in his thoughts, he hadn't realized that they had made it to the top of the Hokage monument. Both Hinata and Ino stood, looking over the village, and Naruto just stared at their backs.

"Naru-kun." Ino spoke.

"We wanted to talk to you about something." Hinata finished.

'Oh crap. Did they plan this?'

They turn to him and smile. He feels his skin crawling.

"We're both willing to be with you." Hinata said.

"If you're willing to have the both of us!" Ino called with a smirk.

They watched as he stared at them wide eyed.

"What do you mean…" He was saying until both girls glomped him.

"We mean, that you're the first guy that we both love enough to share." Ino called on his right side.

"And we want to love you as much as we possibly can." Hinata said, crushing his left. Both girls were lighter than he expected, but together was different. Plus, together, he could have twice as much fun.

"Uh…you're both cool with this?" He called through a strained breath.

"More or less."

Another rare moment in his life had just occurred. He smiled, a real smile. Not the thousands of smiles he faked on a daily basis. Not the mask he put on whenever he was in front of others. It was the true genuine Naruto Uzamaki smile. Both girls knew it as well, because the smiles on their faces and in their hearts couldn't be any bigger. They lay there, in true happiness. Until the two kunoichi decided it time to get things together.

"But Naruto, we wanted to talk to you about the relationship in general." Ino said. Hinata just nodded in agreement.

"Okay. Shoot." He said sitting up along with them.

"For starters, we're going to lay some rules down." Ino said, trying to sound intimidating, but lacked the composure and state of mind for it. Naruto gulped though, not liking the sound of it.

"Rule number 1. You hurt one of us, we both hurt you." Ino said.

"Rule number 2. If you blow one of us off for the other, we both hurt you." Hinata said.

"Rule number 3. If a third party ever enters the picture, your ass is dead and buried. Just because me and Hinata decided that we loved you enough to share you, three girls is just pushing it. You're a lucky bastard for having us two in the first place."

Naruto gulped. Any fantasies that he had with Nani Aika had just been demolished. Ino was much scarier. Plus he expected that her threats were likely to be carried out.

"The last rule is…well, Hinata says we should save that for when the time comes." Ino said blushing.

"What? Come on, tell me!" Naruto whined.

"No way Naru-kun. We spoil you already." Ino said wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. Hinata watched a little jealous, but they were trying to figure things out still. She knew it would take some getting used to, and it wouldn't be so simple in the first place.

"So those are your rules. Now for my rules." Naruto said smirking.

"Go on." Ino said, now with a glare that could melt the toughest of men.

"Rule number 1. Ramen night means ramen night. No if, ands, or buts."

'Ramen night?' Ino thought shuddering. She could only imagine how many bowls of ramen Naruto would engorge on a night like that.

"What's two?" Hinata asked.

"Two? There is no two."

Ino and Hinata face plant. "That's it?" Ino said rising from the ground.

"Yep." Naruto called leaning back.

Hinata laid back down next to him, and Ino did the same.

"Hinata what happened today at your house? What did your dad say?" Ino asked.

"Um…he just gave me a scroll. He told me not to open it until the right time."

"What's the right time?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know. He just said when me and Neji's destiny's cross for what may be the first time."

'The first time? I don't get it.' Naruto thought.

"Hey. Ino, Hinata. Just to let you guys know, I would never hurt either one of you for anyone or anything in the world. Not even a life times supply of ramen."

With that said, they grew silent and watched the sunset. The happiest person in the world that day, was none other than the number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja, Naruto Uzamaki.

"Oh, and Ino. About that flashlight…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Although he could have caught him in the blink of an eye, Gai wanted Neji to feel a little space. Besides, he knew exactly where Neji was headed in the first place. After running along the Hyuga compound wall, he crossed into the area that held the Hyuga grave sight. The grave sight was completely closed off to all of Konoha, and the only way for normal people to get in was by direct permission from Hiashi himself. Gai knew he would have to make a personal apology to Hiashi afterwards. Jumping down, he continued his way towards the back of the cemetery. He entered the area where stood like houses. Reaching the very back of the grave, Neji stood in front of the largest one. Gai slowed and walked up to him.

"I will never end up like him. I will never sacrifice myself for any one else."

"Not even someone you care about."

"That's different. If it were Ten-Ten or Lee, then of course. But he was chosen and forced to die for what? Instead negotiating for a ransom, they decide to kill my father. And he died a fool! Thinking that it was all for the better of the clan."

"Neji, maybe it was. Maybe he thought it was destiny for him to do for Hinata's safety."

"WHY! FOR THE SAKE OF THE HYUGA CLAN'S PRIDE? WHAT PRIDE IS THERE IN DEATH!"

"THE PRIDE OF KNOWING THAT YOU DIED FOR THE BEST CAUSE!" Gai called back.

Neji got quite, the tears in his eyes still looming.

"I would gladly give my life to protect this village. Not for pride either. Because I care about the people in this village. Every single last one. Not as a ninja, or a citizen of Konoha, but because of my personal emotions."

"Then you should know that my personal emotions tell me that my father died in vain. He did not die for the best cause. All death in that situation could have been avoided!"

"Tell me Neji…do you blame Hinata for your fathers death?"

"Of course I do! I blame Hiashi as well."

"For what do you despise Hinata?"

"You know exactly why." Neji spat. "That kidnapping. She was kidnapped and instead of bargaining for a randsom, Hiashi decided to sacrifice a Hyuga for retribution for our ancestors destroying their clan."

"What could Hinata have done in that situation Neji?"

"…"

"You can't answer because you know the truth. There was nothing Hinata could do. She was only six years old, and going through that was tramatic enough. I doubt she would have been able to take down all those well trained ninja. You couldn't at that age, so what would you expect her to do?"

Neji was looking down and crying, although he tried as hard as he could not to. Gai walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Neji, there are some things that are wrong, and some things that you do not understand. This world will throw many trials at you, especially someone in their prime youth like you. But things are never to be taking as dreadful as you have Neji. Things seem grim, and it will not be the first time. You've lost someone who means a lot to you, and sadly to say it won't be the first time. Plus, you think that person was taken under ill will. I don't know what happened that day and only Hiashi can tell you that, but you should not hate anyone Neji. Hatred like that can extinguish your flames of youth, and corrupt you! You are one of the finest shinobi I've ever had the pleasure to work with Neji, and because you feel this way, I will promise to stand and help you whenever you need it from now on!"

He embraced Neji in a hug that he had only ever given Rock Lee. The cemetery changed into a picture of the sunset. Waves crashed over the rocky shore, shining as it did. It all disappeared as Gai released Neji. Neji had stopped his tears and now stood looking down.

"Thank you…Gai-sensei."

"Anytime Neji."

They began walking back towards the others.

"But one more thing…" Neji called stopping.

"What is it?"

"If you ever hug me again, I'll extinguish _your_ flames of youth."

Gai gulped and playfully slapped Neji on the back as they left. Once away from the Hyuga compound, they went to their training field.

"Are you okay Neji?" Ten-Ten asked. Instead of answering he sat down next to her and asked a question of his own.

"Ten-Ten, would you be willing to give your life for the people you care about?"

"Of course. Especially if it were you…er, or Lee. Gai-sensei as well."

Neji nodded. "Then I will do the same for you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Far, far away, outside of fire country, killing intent was building. Building to the point that the ninja resting in a clearing could feel it in their cores.

"Do you feel that?" One of the men asked.

"Of course. But why would an enemy journey this far from their village?" Another called.

There were five of them, all from the village hidden in grass. They were planning an attack, but didn't count on enemy nin coming to them.

"Captain, what do we do?" Another grass nin asked.

"Captain?"

The four men looked around the clearing. Their captain was gone. Then they heard laughing.

"Show yourself!" He called drawing a kunai.

"Yes…this is perfect. Heh heh heh."

From a bush, a young boy walked in front of them. They all stared at the young boy that stood before them.

"Who are you kid? Are you from Suna?"

The boy looked up, showing a symbol on the top left of his forward that represented the word love. He had red hair and a large tannish gourd on his back.

"My mother wants me to be here. I have to do what my mother commands me." He said in a low monotone. His smile was frightening and his eyes showed complete insane blood lust. Although it was a child, the grass nin felt an abnormal chakra coming from him.

"He's a Suna shinobi. He may be a teenager, but we can't let him get away." The grass shinobi slowly move toward him.

"Yes…give me the blood my mother wants!" He says as sand burst from the gourd. It begins to cover the ground around the men.

"What is this? What are you doing?" The sand becomes so thick that the ninja can't move.

They scream and plead, only adding to the boys insane pleasure. He raises his hand and the sand begins to cover the ninja.

"Sand Burial." He draws in his fingers in a crushing motion. The screams of the grass nin end, as the sound of them being crushed echoes over the clearing. The sand drops to the ground and begins to fill the gourd again. Nothing is left of the men.

"Gaara, are you done yet." Temari asked entering the clearing. She was shaking. No matter how many times she saw this happen, she could never get used to it. Her little brother was a monster, but she would never abandon him. Even if she had to watch him kill an entire village.

"Mother is very satisfied. Satisfied, for now Temari." He said, his face returning to a stoic, expressionless glare. Kakurou walked in with a large object that appeared to be a gourd on his back as well.

"Well let's get back to the village. Mission complete I guess." He felt the same way as Temari. They hated seeing their brother like that, but there was nothing they could do. As well as how the Suna council used him, and them as well. They were all bound under the council and the Kazekage didn't seem to have any control of the matter.

"Temari, Kankurou…"

They face their younger brother, feeling guilty and scared.

"We have two months before it is time. Mother is really excited."

"We know Gaara." Kankurou said looking down.

"Aren't you happy? Don't you want mother to be happy?"

"Of course. Mother is to always be pleased." Temari said with malice.

"Mother doesn't like your tone." Gaara called, narrowing his eyes at her. Kankurou's eyes grew wide. Temari, having her head down, didn't see the line of sand coming straight for her. Kankurou slammed the object that was on his back down in front of her. The sand hit it, pushing him back a bit.

"Get out of the way! Mother says she needs to be punished!" Temari gasped as Gaara knocked Kankurou out the way with sand. He slammed into a tree, getting knocked unconscious instantly. Then the same line of sand formed a small hand and picked Temari up by the throat.

"You will never disrespect mother! You shall be punished!" With that, the clearing was once again filled with screams of agony.


	13. Continuation Delayed

Forgive me everyone for not posting for so long and sorry to say that I still won't be able to. Please bare with me, because I will not abandon any of my stories, whatsoever. If you can, please wait at most another 2 and a half weeks for this story to continue. I promise to continue then. I am truly sorry for the inconvenience but I am extremely busy for the next two weeks because of the ACT/PSAE. Thank you for your time, ikito.


	14. Silent Attack

-1_Kataritsugu Koto. Once again, we continue on this journey to, well…I can't say. But I do know that we're finally progressing in the story! Now, since I've officially been on this site for more than one year, it's time to up my game! Ikito!_

Chapter 13: Silent attack

The start of a brand new day. Also, the start of Inoichi's problems. As soon as he awoke, he sensed something was amiss, because usually Ino would be either taking a shower or cooking something for breakfast. Today, however, all was silent in the Yamanaka household. Inoichi walked into the hall way, looked at the newly taped window, and walked towards Ino's room. The door was slightly open so he peeked his head inside. He whispered her name in the darkness, but the only reply was the sound of wind whipping around outside. Without turning on the lights, he slipped into the room seeing that she wasn't on her bed.

"Dad…" He heard her voice. He turned to the opposite side of the bed and found Ino sitting with her knees to her chest in the corner of the room. Dread filled the pit of his stomach as many possibilities of something being wrong with his daughter flashed into his mind.

"Ino, what's wrong? Why are you sitting in the dark? Did somebody hurt you?" He asked getting on one knee in front of her.

She shook her head vigorously. Before he could ask another question, she put a finger to his lips and slowly shifted her position, so that she was sitting on her legs.

"I…I just…wanted to know something." She stammered. Inoichi's eyes clouded with confusion and concern. Ino wriggled a little, feeling slightly uncomfortable with her situation.

"Daddy…I…I have a feeling." She said, a blush slowly creeping on her face as she remembered what Naruto had told her the previous day.

"A feeling? Go on…"

"I…well, it's whenever I'm around a certain person. I always have a tingling feeling around…here." She indicated right below her belly button. Inoichi's face softened a little.

"Ino, if that's about Naruto, then that just means you're truly in love with him."

She shook her head again. "No, I already knew I was in love with him. The feeling I'm talking about…well…it's a little lower than that." Ino hid her face after her last statement. Inoichi stared at her, then his eyes grew wide. Then they grew even wider, and his mouth began to open and close like a fish out of water.

"Oh…OH…OH SH-…Um…" He stood and began pacing back and forth.

He knew this day would come and he had dreaded it for a long time. For some reason, he always thought that it wouldn't be such a shock but now that he was in the situation his mind was crumbling faster than London Bridge. He stopped pacing and turned to Ino.

"Go take your shower and I'll talk to you about this when you get out." He lied.

Ino nodded, curious with her fathers peculiar behavior. And although she had some knowledge about what she was feeling, she was completely confused on how to deal with it, and ironically, so was Inoichi. On his part, he was panicking. Who could he turn to when something like this was happening? He was pretty sure the guys would be useless, and even though he was a trained psychologist, he couldn't deal with this type of mental stress. Finally, it dawned on him who he could turn to.

"Bunshin no jutsu." He called hastily, creating a single clone. He ordered the clone to seek out the person he needed in this dire moment, and the clone left with a nod, just as worried about the predicament as the real Inoichi was. Moments later Ino came from the shower, dressed in her usual purple shirt and shorts. She stopped and glared at her father, who was leaning against the door in deep thought.

"Uh…dad?" She called, snapping him out of his trance. He didn't say a word, but turned around, opened the door, and told Ino to follow. The only thing running through Ino's mind was the previous day, and the harder she thought about it, the more her she blushed.

Previous day…

"Oh, and Ino. About that flashlight…"

Naruto gazed back and forth between Hinata and Ino. Ino had an extremely confused look on her face. Hinata did as well, but was slowly coming to a realization of her own. Naruto could tell, as a blush slowly began to build over her entire face and neck. Coincidentally, Hinata had been having dreams based around Naruto and flash lights for a long, long…long time.

"Uh…Naruto-kun…what about it?" Hinata asked with a gulp at the end.

"That flash light was…it was me…" He whispered. Hinata's face looked like it was about to explode and Ino still held a confused look on her face. Seeing as the girl still didn't have a clue, Naruto tried to reiterate.

"Ino…it was _me_…all of me." He said with emphasis, a blush crossing his face as well as he remembered her hands on him. A few seconds later, the confusion in Ino's eyes were replaced with shock. Her gaze shakingly drifted down to Naruto's pants, and right back up again. Before she could utter a word, Hinata fainted right next to Naruto.

"Hey! Hinata? Are you okay?" He called leaning up over the Hyuga princess and shaking her. Ino had sat up as well, and was staring down at her hands.

'I…I touched Naruto…_there?_ But…I've only dreamed about that…' Her face found a new level of pink after the last thought. Naruto stood up and helped Ino up. Then he picked Hinata's unconscious body up and carried her like a baby as they slowly left Hokage Mountain.

"Naru-kun…I didn't mean too-"

"I know. You were just dreaming about it." He said with a fox like grin. Ino scowled at him and slapped the back of his head.

"Pervy baka." She growled.

"You grabbed me, and _I'm_ the pervy one?" He started running when he said it. She fumed and ran after him.

"NARUTOOO!!!"

Present…

Afterwards they had to take Hinata home, in which Naruto had to sneak in and put Hinata into her bed. He didn't want to have to explain to Hiashi why he was carrying his unconscious daughter. After after chasing Naruto to her house, because Naruto had made another snide remark, she found herself making out with him more than they ever had before, and she almost had another encounter with his first demon. If Inoichi hadn't have announced his arrival, they would've been in deep crap, but Naruto had left.

"Uh, dad, what are we doing at Shikamaru's house?" She asked bewildered before realization came over her. She gasped and turned away, ready to bolt but it was too late.

"INO! Front and center!" Yoshino called from the door, arms folded and a sinister smile on her face. The ki coming from the house made her skin crawl, and she glared at her father, pleading with her eyes for mercy. Her gaze never left her father as she walked in front of Yoshino.

"You're father tells me you've got a problem with your yourself that only women can take care of. Come inside, this isn't the place to discuss."

Ino slowly walked in, crying on the inside, fearing for her life on the out. No matter how many times she's been inside of Shikamaru's house, Yoshino always made the visit uncomfortable. Hell, even Shikamaru wasn't comfortable in his own home. Inside, Ino found Shikamaru and Chouji playing a game of pai-shou.

"Hey Ino, what's up?" Shikamaru called without looking up. Chouji frowned, having been foiled in his plan to switch two pieces while Shikamaru wasn't looking.

"Hey Ino…" He mumbled, more defeated than he was several moments ago.

"You two, out NOW!" Shikamaru finally looked up, but so did Chouji, and without hesitation, they both darted for the door.

"You too, baby!" Yoshino yelled again. A few seconds later, Shikaku bounded down the stairs and out the door after Shikamaru. Before he was all the way out, Ino could of sworn she heard him mumble nice knowing ya kid.

Once the door shut, Yoshino looked at Ino again with a disturbing smile. Ino's hurt felt like it was about to rip right out of her chest, just to be blown to bits by the Nara ballistic missile in front of her.

"Have a seat on the _sofa king _Ino." Yoshino said in the calmest tone she had used all day. Ino gulped.

'I am sofa king dead.' She thought as she sat down on the couch. Yoshino sat down next to her and positioned her self so that she was sitting slightly on her legs.

"Now Ino, just to let you know, everything we discuss today will remain between me and you. Not even your father will know about this okay?"

All Ino could do was nod.

"Alright, I'm guessing you know what's going on, so enlighten me."

"Well…I guess dad's already told you about me and Naruto. We've been with each other for a few weeks, but we don't really hang like I want to."

"Okay, so now what?"

Ino calmed a little more, seeing a different side of Yoshino for the first time. "Whenever I do get a chance to be with him, I can't keep myself from kissing him and letting him hold me close. I know, that is supposed to be typical and all, but then I start getting a feeling…"

Yoshino rose an eyebrow and a knowing smirk slowly found its way onto her lips. "Oh?"

Ino's blush rampage returned as she began to think about how she wanted Naruto. "I…get wet…and I think about Naruto's…package. I know what I want to do, but I don't know **exactly **what I want to do. Or even how…"

Yoshino chuckled. "Ino, you were taught about sex when you turned eleven right? Most female kunoichi tend to lose their virginity at ages as low as twelve, so it won't get in the way of missions and such. This is how all females act, and even I did at exactly your age."

She paused and looked at the blush on Ino's face.

'Too blunt…okay let's try this…'

"Alright Ino, you say that you think of Naruto like that because you don't spend enough time with him. If you spent more time with him, do you think that would help the problem or make it worse?"

Ino looked away slightly, a little confused. "As of now, it would make things worse. Yesturday, I…" She paused. "I kind of touched Naruto…down there."

Yoshino's eyes grew wide, and Ino began to cower again. Yoshino saw and smiled.

"Well, what did it feel like?" Yoshino asked, taking a page out of Kurenai's book. The question caught Ino off guard.

"Wha-what?!"

"You heard me."

The look on Ino's face was priceless, and Yoshino wouldn't enjoy a better sight. Ino looked as if she was told she was going to be given a sex change. She looked at the ground, embarrassed at what she was about to say.

"I was sleep…but I guess it felt like…a super durable industrial flashlight."

Now the look on Yoshino's face was priceless. Ino watched as she stood and went to a small dresser. She pulled out a long black flashlight and just showed it to Ino. Ino blushed and nodded. Yoshino's eyes grew even wider as she dropped the flash light back into the drawer and slid it shut as if it were alive and trying to attack her. She returned to her spot on the couch next to Ino.

"You do know industrials don't get smaller than eight inches right?"

"I…don't think I should know that."

"Yeah you should. You're the one who's gonna have to deal with that monster…forgive me, I mean dragon." She said, a personal pain came into her chest from calling Naruto a monster, even if it was just about a part of his body. Ino didn't catch on and shrugged.

"Okay, the best advice I can give you Ino, is just do it. Do it in secrecy too, don't tell Inoichi."

"Wait, aren't you supposed to talk me out of this?"

"Why, I'm not your father. Hell, go get laid, just make sure he uses a condom…or two." Ino face faulted.

"First, you should spend more time with him though. Try to be around him more than you are now." Yoshino said caringly.

"Seriously though, don't rush into it. Make sure this is the person you want to go all the way with. This is something that you will regret for a long time if it isn't perfect." Yoshino said looking down. Ino tilted her head and saw a tear in Yoshino's eye. Then Yoshino smiled and waved Ino's look off.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. Now go, and make sure this is what you want."

Once Ino was gone Yoshino wiped her eyes. She stood and shakingly made her towards the kitchen. At the door frame she stopped and sobbed.

"Shikaku still hasn't forgiven me, even after all of these years…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

"Naruto, wake up."

"Ngh…five more minutes…"

"Fine, you asked for it. Hiro, play."

Before Naruto could open his eyes, a flurry of fur, paws, and licking attacked him. He laughed, rolling on the bed until he wrapped a hand around the puppy, who gave a happy bark.

"Iruka-sensei, what's going on?" He called petting the pup.

"Nothing. You can't stay in bed all day. Oh, and Hiro left you a present in the kitchen." He handed Nartuo the pooper-scooper.

Naruto glared at Hiro, who put his paws over his eyes and whimpered. Naruto just smiled.

"It's alright Hiro, we'll get Iruka-sensei back later." He called with a sly smile. After cleaning up the mess, he went outside, Hiro trailing along. It was another bright day, which was actually starting to worry Naruto. Things seemed to be going a little too smoothly. Even the villagers had stopped messing with him, and just completely ignored him all together. He heard that it had something to do with the hospital.

"There you are Naruto."

Kakashi strolled towards Naruto with his hands in his pockets. The way he spoke was down right cheerful, and creepy to Naruto, because he never heard him talk that way before. Hiro barked and began leaping towards Kakashi. Kakashi bent down and petted the puppy before looking at its owner with a smile shaped eye.

"I hope you're not busy."

"No, I'm not, why?"

"I wanted to ask if you'd except some extra training today. I've got nothing to do, and you need all the practice you can get."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto frowned at Kakashi, who relayed his same smiling eye.

"Oh nothing. So do you want to train or not? You know we won't be meeting again for another three days."

Naruto wasn't the type to turn down any extra training anyway. If there was a way for him to get stronger he would. All because he didn't forget the promise he and Sasuke made to each other. They would fight, and neither would hold back.

'I wonder what he's been doing…'

"Come on Naruto, we only have a short time today."

Naruto nodded and began to follow Kakashi.

"Oh wait! You don't mind if we have company while we're training do you Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked eagerly, trying to suppress a smile trying to form on his face. Kakashi shrugged and agreed. Naruto lead him away, half way through the town. The copy nin was curious as to whom would be joining the training session, and under Naruto's request non the less. That curiosity hit its peak once they reached their destination.

"I'll be right back Kakshi-sensei." Naruto said and ran through the gates, leaving Hiro and Kakashi watching.

'The Hyuga compound? And not only that, the main house of Hiashi Hyuga himself? What's going on here?' He looked down at Hiro, as if the puppy had an answer, but it was staring at the house just as confused as Kakashi.

At the door, two Hyuga gaurds stopped Naruto.

"What do you want kid? If you need to speak to Hiashi-sa-"

"Is Hinata-chan home?" Naruto interrupted, a little annoyed by the guard stopping him.

"Lady Hinata…why do you-" Once again Naruto cut the guard off.

"HINATA-CHAN!! ARE YOU IN THERE??" He yelled, making the Hyugas cover their ears.

Naruto prepared to scream again but the door opened. Hinata stood smiling in front of him, but behind her stood Hiashi himself. Hinata blushed and scratched the back of her head.

"Um…Naruto-kun, could you please be a little quiet. Daddy is…well-"

"I'm trying to read a roman say novel." He declared with both anger and pride.

"It's **romance** father…" Hinata said dropping her head.

"O…kay…Well, Hinata-chan-" Naruto started.

"Since when did my Daughter become _chan_ boy?" Hiashi asked taking a step forward and putting his hands behind his back. Naruto gulped as he realized what type of situation he was in. This wasn't like him and Ino, Hiashi had no clue about the relationship he had with Hinata.

"I…I…" Naruto began to sweat all over.

"I'm Hinata's friend guy…" He said, hoping it went unnoticed by Hiashi.

"You're her boyfriend…" Hiashi said darkly. Naruto shrunk, his plan being crushed in front of him.

"Father, I think there is someone waiting for Naruto-kun, so you really shouldn't keep him." Hinata said quickly. Naruto gave her a slight nod, acknowledging the save. Hiashi froze for a second, only staring towards Kakashi. Then he sighed.

"Fine. However, when you return with Hinata, I want to speak to the both of you." He turned until Naruto called out.

"How did you know I wanted to take Hinata out?"

'Because this is exactly what I did when I met her mother.' Hiashi thought. However, it was silence with Naruto, and he just continued walking into the house, leaving them.

"You want to take me somewhere?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah. You remember you asked to come train with me. Well we can do it today if you want, and afterwards we can go get something to eat." Naruto began to blush slightly.

"I…I would like that." She stammered, feeling a tightening feeling in her stomach.

'_Could this be…me and Naruto-kun's first real…date?'_

Naruto thought the same thing, and everything seemed to hit him like a ton of bricks. He was in a real relationship, and with two girls. Ironically, neither one of them were what he was exactly aiming for a month ago. These two girls had changed him, and changed him a lot. He didn't think of Sakura anymore and Sasuke wasn't someone for him to cling on to like a helpless child. His mask was cracking, but this time he didn't care. He wanted it to fade, so he could show his true self to those who cared about him. Maybe, just maybe, he could finally have true happiness in his life. And maybe nothing would go wrong to tarnish it.

"So, what gives us the honor of having the first Hyuga princess join us for training?" Kakashi called giving a half bow. Hinata blushed and wrapped herself around Naruto's arm.

"Me…and Naruto-kun are dating, Kakashi-san." Hinata replied, making the masked nins one visible eye go wide. Almost as fast as he had become shocked, he turned stoic.

'From a pink haired, loud mouthed bruiser, to a blue haired, timid princess? Wow, Naruto's all over the map.'

Naruto saw Kakashi's blank stare and called, "Hey, what's up Kakashi-sensei?"

"Nothing. Just amazed at how a short stop like you could catch a fly ball like Hinata."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at Kakashi over the insult. Hinata smiled and leaned her head on Naruto's shoulder as they walked towards field six. Naruto caught several people glaring at him and Hinata, and even though he tried not to, he could still hear what some people were saying.

"What's with that? Why is that Hyuga princess with the demon."

"Are the Hyuga _aiding_ him? Even after what happened to Hinamare?"

"Aww, that's so cute."

Naruto smiled at the last one. At least not everyone hated him still. Maybe that moment he had with Sasuke really did change some people. As for the rest of them, if he could hold on to his sanity for just a bit longer, maybe he could change them too. Or maybe they would drive him too far one day when Hinata or Ino aren't around and cause him to do something he'll regret for a long time. He stopped at the thought. It wasn't his. He had been smiling when he thought about hurting some of the villagers, and he knew it couldn't have been himself.

'Fox-'

"**I know kit, but it wasn't me."**

Naruto stopped walking for a second, but the fox ordered him to keep going. Since Naruto was with other people, he couldn't go inside his head, or his body would enter its unconscious state.

'Alright what is it?' Naruto called with his hands in his pockets and his head down.

"**It is about the third entity that now inhabits your core existence."**

'What? Core existence? Okay, explain this in details please.'

"**Your core existence is where all of your emotions come from Naruto. Every single emotion you have is the core of your existence and so is chakra. It is the central focal point of your chakra. The last time we spoke, you saw two flames, one black and one white. Those flames are feeding off of your emotions Naruto. The black off of anger, hatred, and confusion. The white off of love, and anything that makes you happy."**

'What does this have to do with a third entity. And how are flames inside of me in the first place.'

"**It seems the third entity wasn't sealed inside of you, it was created by you. When you were young and tortured by the villagers, you always wanted a way for revenge. The flames of youth that Rock Lee so often mentions are actually real. Where they originated is beyond me, and maybe only someone you know can tell you the truth. However, I do know that since you've felt hatred and despise most of your life, your flames of youth should have been extinguished. However, it didn't, it just split in two. The black flame has been growing stronger and stronger. It began to form into a chakra. That chakra took a solid form when you henged, therefore becoming Kyu. The stronger the black flame got, the weaker the white, but since you've been with the quiet Hyuga and the crazy Yamanaka, the black flame has been suppressed. The white flame is growing stronger, but not enough. This momentary happiness you've been feeling has not been enough to stop the black flames growth."**

"Slow down!" Naruto accidentally called out loud. Hinata jumped and looked at Naruto worriedly.

"Is everything fine Naruto-kun? Am I walking too fast?" She asked innocently, almost looking as if she was about to cry. Naruto quickly tried to comfort her.

"No, not at all! Sorry Hinata-chan, I was just thinking of something."

Kakashi had begun reading again, but glared at Naruto over his book. It was strange, because he could have sworn that Naruto's chakra had risen for a split second, much higher than he had ever felt it before.

'Flames of youth? And not only that, chakra flames? Then they form their own life form, come on. This doesn't make sense.'

"**I know Naruto. I will be able to tell you more as I learn more. For now, you should stay calm as to not make that flame grow. Though, flames of youth aren't actually what I would call them, you should ask your hokage about their true Nature. I felt them inside of your Uchiha friend as well."**

Naruto almost completely stopped walking when he heard this. Then he remembered what had happened to Sasuke as a child as well. He didn't know the full details, but he knew enough. Sasuke's entire clan had been wiped out, and he was supposed to be the last one left, the sole survivor. That's all he knew. It was enough for anyone to go insane, and Sasuke had found Naruto to cling onto for alleviation.

"Okay, Naruto. I want to know what you think you need improvement in." Kakashi said, making Naruto just realize that they were already at the training grounds.

'How about how to create an in body fire extinguisher.' He wanted to say.

"I…I don't know. I guess chakra control really. All of my jutsu take way too much chakra to pull off."

Kakashi nodded, analyzing everything he had learned about Naruto over the time that he'd known him. All of his jutsu were supreme, high ranked jutsu. But his chakra output was still academy, unless he was actually putting his full attention into one thing. If Kakashi could train Naruto to have at least genin chakra control, though he knew Naruto could easily attain Jonin level control, then Naruto would be able to pull off several jutsu with out batting an eye.

"Alright Naruto. Since I'm not really one to teach chakra control besides the basics, how about Hinata be your senpai for right now too?"

Naruto looked at Kakashi confused, and Hinata had frozen.

'_I can't be Naruto-kun's senpai…I'm not strong enough. I bet he feels the same way-'_

"Fine by me." Hinata face planted.

"Naru-kun, I don't th-think I can be your…senpai."

"Why not?" Naruto asked with both sadness and irritation.

"I-I'm not strong enough."

Naruto stared at the stuttering girl for a second, before falling to the ground and rolling in a fit of laughter. Hinata's head dropped in shame as she thought Naruto was laughing at her.

"Weak?" Naruto said from the ground. "If you're weak, then the rest of us must be pathetic."

Hinata cocked her head in confusion. "What do you mean…"

Naruto calmed down, sat up, and wiped a tear from his eye. "You really shouldn't down yourself so much. I've never even seen you fight and know that you've got enough chakra control to take me down in a fight."

Hinata knew that was pushing it, but maybe she did know enough to actually be considered a decent kunoichi. She smiled at Naruto, but more at herself. He believed in her, and that was enough to convince her. She bowed.

"Arigatou Naruto-kun. I would be honored to become your senpai."

Naruto grinned from ear to ear, and let out a semi roar. Hiro began barking, thinking something had gone mentally ill with its owner.

"This is gonna be great Hinata-chan…I mean Hinata-senpai." He knelt before her.

"Well, this is more interesting than I thought. You're actually showing respect to someone." Kakashi called from a log, his book still glued to his face. He put the book away and stood up.

"I'll be back in twenty." He said, flashing a peace sign.

"Hey, wait! You're just gonna leave?" Naruto yelled.

"I said I would help you train, not stay the entire time."

"It's okay Naruto-kun, I think it will better if it's just us two."

Kakashi glared at her for a second. Seeing a hidden smirk form on her lips, he sighed.

"Fine I'll stay. I don't want the hokage killing me because two of his genin did the dirty and pulled a couple of sprouts while I was supposed to be watching them."

This pulled a blush from both said genin, and an angry insult from the blonde jinchuriki.

"YOU PERVY CYCLOPS!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Dad, I'll be back, I'm going to get more spices!" Ayame yelled to Teuchi before leaving the store.

"Fine, fine, just be back before closing time." The old man's voice called from the back of the stand.

Ayame took off the apron and bonnet she usually wears and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Working everyday was a price she had to pay for spending time with her father. It was all worth it though. At least, she kept telling herself that over and over. She dusted her dark green blouse and put a belt on her tan capris. She didn't really want to go get spices, but it was a good enough of an excuse for her to get a little break.

"Hey, stop that man!" A woman shouted. Ayame saw a man with a ski mask on running quite slow towards her with a purse flying about in his massive hand.

'At least something eventful happened today.' She thought as she jumped in the way of the less than successful purse snatcher.

"Move it little girl!" The man called still hobbling towards her.

"Right." She said sarcastically and began to form hand signs.

"Suiton: 100 degrees." She called out. Two near by barrels of water exploded, and water soared into the air. The man skidded to stop, seeing water racing towards him from both sides.

"Oh crud." He mumbled as scalding hot water slammed into him, and twirled him like a whirlpool. He collapsed to the ground soaking wet.

"Thank you so much!" The lady called running even slower than the bandit had. "I owe you a lot."

"No problem, just happy to help."

The woman stared for a moment and then beamed. "Oh hey! You're the Ramen Girl! I'll be sure to let Teuchi know about what you've done!"

She looked up towards the sky, feeling a little annoyed. Even though she wanted a break, what was she supposed to do. This was a lucky random event. She didn't really have any friends beyond Naruto and a couple of kids from the academy. Most of them just knew her as the Ramen Girl anyway. With another exhausted sigh, she walked towards a small market to pick up the spices. After an imposing search for the right spices, and an infuriatingly long wait in line, she was finally on her way back to the stand. Dragging her feet, her head slightly down, she wondered why she even bothered. As if things couldn't get any worse, she accidentally walked into someone.

"Darn it! I'm sorry, are you okay?" She asked. Neither her nor the person had fallen.

"Yeah, no problem." The dog by the boy's foot gave a happy yelp.

"Aww, cute puppy. I love dogs. What's his name?" Ayame asked bending down to pet the dog.

"Akamaru." The boy said proudly, removing his hood. Ayame noticed two red marks under his eyes.

"Hey, you're an Inuzuka right?" She asked with enthusiasm.

"Yep. Kiba Inuzuka's the name. You're that Ramen Girl."

Ayame turned away sulking making Kiba sweat drop. "Ah…are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's alright. I'm used to being called Ramen Girl."

Kiba heard the hint of sadness in her voice, though he didn't know what for. "So what's your real name Ramen Girl?" He asked, completely oblivious to her feelings towards the name. She took it as him being considerate however, just in a sarcastic way.

"I'm Ayame Ichiraku."

"Nice to meet a fellow dog lover." Kiba said pulling the girl into a one armed hug. Ayame blushed confused at his behavior.

"Uh…nice to meet you too?"

Kiba frowned and released her. "Sorry about that, it's how we Inuzuka usually greet each other. Well, that or sniff each others butt, but they stopped that tradition two years ago. I don't know why, I actually liked it."

Ayame rose an eyebrow, but chose not to think about it too much.

"Well anyway, I should be on my way. It's getting pretty dark, and I have to be back at the stand before closing time."

"Alright. I'll walk you there." Kiba said, but then Akamaru started growling.

"Hey buddy, what's wro-" Kiba was saying until he felt a strong blow to the back of his head. He fell to the ground, stunned, but not unconscious. Ayame screamed. Kiba turned over to see someone in a black cloak snatch her and flee. It ticked him off that he didn't smell the silent attacker, but even more that he couldn't do anything to stop him.

"Ayame!" He yelled, but the person was gone. His next instinct was to go after her, but Akamaru barked at a small white object on the ground. It was a note.

**If you ever wish to see this child, and other hostages again, bring the bridge builder to wave country by sunset in three days. **

Kiba balled the note up in his fist. "Damn it…Whoever did this will pay!" He growled, and against his conscious will, darted to the hokage's office.


End file.
